Lisa McDonald (Fianna Fail)

I welcome this debate, which relates to an interesting problem that requires immediate action on the part of the Government. When we enacted the Copyright Act in 2001, we did not foresee the spiralling or viralling of downloading that has been going on or the splurge in Internet activity that has become a way of life for so many people. This debate needs to be stripped down to how illegal downloading affects artists.

Ireland has always been home to creativity. We have always nurtured and respected our artists and, in turn, they feel very much part of our community. From Ireland's Golden Age to now, we have always been a creative people who have punched above our weight artistically. One only has to recall Bono, Bob Geldof and various other artists. Ireland has also punched above its weight in science and engineering. Many people, however, are not aware of intellectual property rights and that illegal downloading is theft. We need to examine how to protect the creative person at the end of all of this process. It is easy to get tied up with arguments about large multinational record companies but somewhere, somebody has used their own concept to create an entertainment form, be it a computer game or music, which is essentially their intellectual property.

Entertainment is of important value to society, particularly in this time of doom and gloom. Ireland is known as the country of the sing-song and traditional Irish music is internationally renowned. It is also part of what tourists who visit here love about Ireland. This element of our culture and what we are as a people must be cultivated as it has kept us going in the past. Creative artists, therefore, need to have intellectual property protections in place.

Since 2005, Irish record companies have seen a 40% drop in their sales. Part of this is due to newer electronic music formats such as downloading from music websites. For example, one can immediately download a song after it has been performed on the "X Factor" every Saturday night.

In his recent judgment on UPC, Mr. Justice Peter Charleton said he felt UPC's actions were morally wrong but he could not provide the injunctive relief possible. I am concerned this is a signal to the piracy market that Ireland is the wild west yet again and the full protections to prevent illegal downloading are not in place. To close this loophole, Mr. Justice Peter Charleton said all that was needed was the transposition of article 8.3 of the copyright directive and article 12.3 of the e-commerce directive. Both provide that injunctions should be available against Internet service providers, ISPs, forcing them to terminate illegality on their networks, whether they are responsible for it or not.

If this protection had been transposed into Irish law, UPC would have had to examine, and probably follow, the graduated response Eircom put in place. Are multinational games companies holding back material from Irish ISPs because piracy will subvert their industry and creativity? Having checked Facebook and Twitter after the judgment, I noted there was much support for UPC's position. However, UPC financially benefits because the larger the file the UPC-user downloads, say a movie compared to a song, the more expensive the package the user is put on.

At the last budget the Government committed to making Ireland the world's leading hub in intellectual property rights. Tax incentives and research and development policies were put in place to support this aim. After the Charleton judgment, we need to close this gap in our laws and ensure Ireland is at the forefront of intellectual property rights.

The Minister of State pointed out earlier the new copyright directive will modernise the law when transposed. For the interim, however, we should examine transposing the existing e-commerce and copyright directives. The message needs to go out that piracy is not acceptable or legal.

Many of the young people involved in piracy – for want of a better word – do not realise what they are doing is illegal. The ISPs are also an important cog in the wheel, needed to send out the message illegal downloading is not acceptable. Eircom's graduated response was reasonable and the other ISPs must follow suit.

Ireland is seen as a creative country. Our creativity has got us through past recessions. We must ensure artists are not ripped off by piracy and their works are protected. The Oireachtas must ensure no infringement of copyright is allowed. Arising from the Charleton judgment, legislative intervention is required. The Minister of State, Deputy Conor Lenihan, has previously done much work in this area and is very passionate about it. I look forward to his response on how we can protect the intellectual property of artists on the Internet.