Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputies have raised a few issues there. The debate has not changed much. They are very much focused on IP and the IP regime. The position of the EU has always been that that is not where the sole focus should be. The Deputies and I have differed on that for many months. I am not going to change their minds here. I am happy to consider the letter that was sent to us by the committee and to respond on it.

I have always said that a combination of public and private money is being invested in solutions in this regard. There has never been any dispute about that. The figures are there.

I am not aware of the advertising budgets of the companies mentioned by Deputy Paul Murphy. I seriously doubt that he is correct that they spend more on advertising than on research and development. If he is right, I will give way to that. I have not seen any evidence in that regard. It is something in which I would be interested.

Public and private collaboration has been contributing significantly to the development of treatments for and vaccines against Covid-19. The development of new therapeutics is based on years of research and clinical trials and, if successful, developing manufacturing capacity and distribution networks, which are not necessarily publicly funded. Intellectual property is a crucial incentive for the research and development of novel vaccines, medicines and treatments, as well as investment in production capacity. Experts agree - the Deputies have a different view, based on what they have heard from the experts to whom they have listened - that the current Covid vaccines were produced in record time as industry was able to piggy-back on years of investment in other vaccine productions which has been incentivised by, in part, a supportive intellectual property regime. That is something we want to protect not just for now, but for the future because we recognise that the best results in the development of the best products and medical solutions come from a combination of public and private money. That has to be recognised.

As regards dealing with what is happening now, to be clear in respect of our role in this with the EU, trade is an exclusive competence of the EU and, accordingly, the negotiations on TRIPS, as a trade matter, are led by the EU. We feed into that. Ireland engages with the European Commission and other EU member states on the EU position for the WTO discussions on the TRIPS waiver. The EU has not necessarily agreed with the TRIPS waiver on the grounds that intellectual property rights are not the primary obstacle to access to the supply of vaccines around the world. I am conscious that the Deputies are convinced that IP rights are the primary obstacle in that regard, based on what they have heard from the people to whom they have listened, and I accept their position, but it is not a position that is necessarily accepted by everybody else. Since last autumn, the EU has actively engaged in informal discussions with representatives of South Africa, India and the US with regard to the process.

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