Results 1-20 of 10,711 for speaker:Niamh Smyth

Select Committee on Enterprise, Tourism and Employment: Copyright and Related Rights (Amendment) Bill 2025: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2025)

Niamh Smyth: I appreciate the sentiment expressed by the Deputy but, unfortunately, the amendment is only in draft form. It has not yet been finalised. I, too, will work with the Whip's office to try to ensure that we have the time and space to deal with the matter on Report Stage.

Select Committee on Enterprise, Tourism and Employment: Copyright and Related Rights (Amendment) Bill 2025: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2025)

Niamh Smyth: I thank the Deputy. The rationale for the inclusion of the new section 3 is to provide legal certainty around the transition between the current arbitration process, which sits with the controller, and the new process in cases where agreements cannot be reached, which are to be referred to the Circuit Court. The relevant provision in the Copyright and Related Rights Act has been in place...

Select Committee on Enterprise, Tourism and Employment: Copyright and Related Rights (Amendment) Bill 2025: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2025)

Niamh Smyth: I flag that a Government amendment to section 2 will be introduced on Report Stage.

Select Committee on Enterprise, Tourism and Employment: Copyright and Related Rights (Amendment) Bill 2025: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2025)

Niamh Smyth: As flagged on Second Stage, a further amendment to the Bill is under consideration by the Minister, Deputy Burke, to strengthen the appeals process by adding a provision similar to current section 208(6) but adapted to the new arrangements provided for in this Bill where an agreement cannot be reached as to the sharing of the equitable remuneration between a performer and a copyright owner....

Select Committee on Enterprise, Tourism and Employment: Copyright and Related Rights (Amendment) Bill 2025: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2025)

Niamh Smyth: No. I accept what he says and his bona fides in that regard. We will have the summer months to think about this and to tease it out a little bit further. I will discuss the matters raised by Deputy Ó Snodaigh with the Minister, Deputy Peter Burke, because the decision has been made by the Government. The officials will meet with RAAP in the next two weeks. I am happy to do that too....

Select Committee on Enterprise, Tourism and Employment: Copyright and Related Rights (Amendment) Bill 2025: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2025)

Niamh Smyth: I thank the committee for the contributions so far. I am ably advised by the fabulous officials on either side of me. There had been no referrals in the past 20 years to the controller - perhaps that says something in itself - until this dispute arose. The sense was the controller perhaps did not have the expertise and that is why going to the courts would probably be a higher level of...

Select Committee on Enterprise, Tourism and Employment: Copyright and Related Rights (Amendment) Bill 2025: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2025)

Niamh Smyth: I take on board what the Deputy said. The officials are going to meet with RAAP in the coming weeks. Hopefully that can resolve some of the issues. To concur, I read about the right to an image. This is being discussed under the Danish Presidency, to be considered as part of the revision of the copyright of the DSM directive.

Select Committee on Enterprise, Tourism and Employment: Copyright and Related Rights (Amendment) Bill 2025: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2025)

Niamh Smyth: I thank Deputy Ó Snodaigh. He must be exhausted after all that. I thank him very much for going into such level of detail.

Select Committee on Enterprise, Tourism and Employment: Copyright and Related Rights (Amendment) Bill 2025: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2025)

Niamh Smyth: I want to reassure the Deputy. There are representatives from RAAP in the Gallery today, and I join with the Chairman in welcoming them. A meeting has been scheduled to meet with the officials in the coming weeks. Of course, we will do anything we can. The intention of all of us is to get this right and make sure that the producers as well as the performers, and the performers have been...

Select Committee on Enterprise, Tourism and Employment: Copyright and Related Rights (Amendment) Bill 2025: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2025)

Niamh Smyth: I would prefer to deal with them as a group, if that is okay with the Deputy.

Select Committee on Enterprise, Tourism and Employment: Copyright and Related Rights (Amendment) Bill 2025: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2025)

Niamh Smyth: I thank colleagues for being here with me today. I thank the Chair and members of the committee for facilitating Committee Stage and for the support for the Bill on Second Stage in the Dáil. I am delighted to bring the Bill to Committee Stage today on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Peter Burke. As the Minister of State, Deputy Dillon, set out on Second Stage, the Bill has a very...

Select Committee on Enterprise, Tourism and Employment: Copyright and Related Rights (Amendment) Bill 2025: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2025)

Niamh Smyth: I will come back to Deputy Ó Snodaigh on the matter. Is the Title normally dealt with at the end?

Select Committee on Enterprise, Tourism and Employment: Copyright and Related Rights (Amendment) Bill 2025: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2025)

Niamh Smyth: I might have further information at that point. I do not think there is any particular reason, and we can clarify this for Deputy Ó Snodaigh.

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Inflation Rate (17 Jul 2025)

Niamh Smyth: The Government recognises the financial pressure that rising grocery prices place on households across the country. Ensuring fairness, transparency, and robust competition in the retail sector is a key priority. A comprehensive framework is in place to monitor supermarket price inflation, involving several agencies and initiatives: The CCPC is central to monitoring pricing practices and...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Consumer Protection (17 Jul 2025)

Niamh Smyth: The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) is an independent statutory body. As Minister, I do not direct the CCPC to investigate individual cases or potential breaches of competition or consumer protection law. The CCPC operates independently in its decision-making, in line with its statutory remit. In general, businesses in Ireland are free to set their own prices for the...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Consumer Protection (17 Jul 2025)

Niamh Smyth: As Minister, I respect the independence of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC). As an enforcement body, the CCPC does not comment on actual or potential investigations, and I do not have a role in directing or influencing its enforcement decisions. Misleading discount practices fall under consumer protection law rather than competition law. The European Union...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Artificial Intelligence (17 Jul 2025)

Niamh Smyth: On 31 October 2024, in compliance with the first obligation under the AI Act, Ireland published a list of nine national public authorities responsible for protecting fundamental rights under the AI Act:An Coimisiún Toghcháin.Coimisiún na Meán.Data Protection Commission.Environmental Protection Agency.Financial Services & Pensions Ombudsman.Irish Human Rights &...