Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail)

I agree with Senator Cummins, as do Members on all sides of the House, that the integrity and credibility of Irish passports have been seriously eroded by Israeli and now Russian actions; it is terrible. At the time of the allegations involving the Israelis the Minister for Foreign Affairs requested a member of the Israeli diplomatic staff to return to Israel. In fairness, that was not was a minimal response.

I express concern at the ruling in the High Court that private Internet providers can continue to allow the illegal downloading of music which is having a detrimental effect on the music industry in general and jobs in Ireland. There is a perception that the big five record companies, all international companies, have been ripping off the consumer for many years. I do not want to be seen as an apologist for the music industry, but at the lower level I can give a specific example to highlight the impact of illegal downloading on Aslan, an Irish band. It has sold 6,000 copies of its current album, but there have been 22,000 illegal downloads. We are living in a technological age, in which increasingly members of the younger generation are asking why they should pay for a CD when they can go on-line and illegally download it. Why must we wait for a High Court judgment to be made before we introduce relevant legislation? This is not the first time it has happened in the copyright sector. I was a Member of the House when we had to introduce copyright legislation to protect software because Microsoft and other companies which are providing thousands of jobs in this country did not have confidence in the Government's ability to ensure there would not be pirating of their copyright material. We are in the exact same situation now and jobs are at stake. I ask the Leader to convey the concerns of the House to the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation and to ask him what plans he has to introduce legislation to rectify this anomaly.