Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 40: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation the way he will support the development of an international content services centre as per the programme for Government; when this centre will be developed; when the national intellectual property protocol will be developed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5867/11]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The Government for National Recovery Programme commits to examine how an International Content Services Centre could be developed to make Ireland a world leader in managing intellectual property. The concept of the International Content Services Centre involves establishing Ireland as a centre for funding, trading and distributing content and arranging the back office fulfilment for global traders in this field. It would require a sound regulatory environment, matched with appropriate infrastructure, technology and professional support.

Ireland has significant competitive advantages that make us well placed to develop such an International Centre. These strengths include:

Ø Through the IFSC we have established a base of relevant skills and support services

Ø A large number of US MNCs already have operations in Ireland

Ø A modern statutory framework for IP

Ø A recently updated IP taxation regime

Ø We provide an English language location within the EU I plan to assemble key stakeholders to sketch out the steps needed to develop a robust proposition that would pass the necessary cost benefit tests required by the Programme for Government.

The attainment of a predictable, consistent and speedy intellectual property regime in Ireland is another, complementary goal. The main output to give effect to this aim will be the National Intellectual Property Protocol which provides clarity around expectations and terms and ensures efficient processes for the commercialisation of IP from publicly funded research.

To that end an Intellectual Property Implementation Group chaired by Dr. Jim Mountjoy and comprising technology transfer practitioners and industry representatives from various sectors is operating under the aegis of my Department, charged with the task of developing proposals for a more user-friendly system for industry to commercialise State-funded intellectual property and give Ireland a competitive advantage over many other countries. The desired outcome of the work of this group will be to ensure that all enterprises, from small businesses to multinationals, get appropriate access to intellectual property arising from Government funded research and can then use it to create jobs and drive our economic recovery.