Dan Boyle (Green Party)

If we are talking about intellectual property, especially in the creative area, the legislation needs to be very strong in this regard.

There have been moves in the European Union to lengthen the copyright period beyond the lifetime of the producer of the creative work. This is unfortunate. The time behind a lifespan should be quite narrow, perhaps 20 years or so, because it tends to benefit people who have not been involved in the creation of the work. I hope our legislation will bear that in mind.

There could be an argument that our taxation system takes that somewhat into account with the artist exemption scheme. However, we are reaching a stage where this scheme, as open-minded as it was at that time, needs to be looked at. People involved in the creative arts need to be more secure in terms of their source of income rather than how, or if, they will be taxed because the reality is that many people in the arts do not earn sufficient income to be taxed. I would like attention to be devoted to this particular area.

I refer to the production of goods and services and copyright in regard to medicines and pharmaceuticals. This country benefits from a very vibrant pharmaceutical industry. Some 13 of the 15 top industries are based in Ireland.