Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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231. To ask the Minister for Health his views on correspondence (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15900/14]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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The report to which the Deputy refers was carried out jointly by the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) in the EU and the European Patent Office and is the first ever EU-wide study of the impact of Intellectual Property Rights on the European economy in terms of GDP, employment, wages and trade. According to the study, Ireland rates first in terms of GDP share in all IPR-intensive industries in the EU, first for GDP share of copyright-intensive industries and, first for GDP share of trade mark-intensive industries. Ireland performs well also in relation to other rankings and as the Deputy noted, Ireland has the highest percentage of IP-intensive employment from industries based outside the European Union. This can be attributed to the level of high quality foreign direct investment that we have successfully attracted to Ireland.

I assume that the Deputy’s question is in response to the proposal to introduce standardised packaging for tobacco products. As the Deputy will be aware, I received Government approval on 19^th November 2013 to proceed with drafting the Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill 2013. However, this is not a proposal to remove intellectual property rights from the tobacco industry as the Deputy suggests.

Standardised packaging, also known as plain or generic packaging, means that all forms of branding – trademarks, logos, colours and graphics – would be removed from retail tobacco packaging, except for the brand and variant names, which would be presented in a uniform typeface for all brands on the market. All packs would be in a plain neutral colour, except for the mandatory health warnings and the tax stamp. Standardised packaging would remove a key remaining means for the tobacco industry to promote its products to billions of the world’s smokers and future smokers.

The Deputy may be aware that as of 14^th March 2014, the EU Council formally approved the Tobacco Products Directive, which will revise the law regulating tobacco products on the EU market. The Directive governs the manufacture, presentation and sale of tobacco and related products, and was officially adopted by the Council following its formal approval by the European Parliament in February. This new Directive will improve the functioning of the internal market for tobacco and related products, while ensuring a high level of health protection for European citizens.

While the revised Directive does not go so far as to introduce standardised packaging on an EU-wide basis, it expressly allows Member States to introduce further requirements in relation to standardised packaging. The proposed standardised packaging legislation will be a proportionate and non-discriminatory measure, justified on grounds of the protection of public health and which, contrary to the Deputy's assertion, will not remove IP rights.

Ireland has a robust legal framework in place to protect IP, a fact that is well recognised globally. This Government continues to focus on ensuring that Ireland’s intellectual property regime compares favourably with best international practice. In particular, actions arising from the Action Plan for Jobs target enhancements to Ireland’s IP regime to ensure that the regime allows for innovation which in turn contributes to job creation. The intention is to further reinforce Ireland’s reputation as a country where strong IP rights play a crucial role and strengthen Ireland’s already established reputation as a good place in which to do business.