Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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On Tuesday, Government agreed the deferral of the constitutional referendum on Ireland’s participation in the Unified Patent Court due to take place on the 7^th of June 2024. The Government continues to believe that joining the UPC is essential, and that the referendum should be pursued.

The Bill was scheduled for the Seanad this week, but I was concerned with only 7 weeks to the polling date.

I believe this timeline is too constrained and Government needs more time to campaign. We also need to ensure we provide sufficient time for robust public discussion and engagement by stakeholders to help inform the debate.

In addition, there is emerging consensus that the June elections which the referendum was aligned alongside for practical reasons will likely give rise to diverse issues and campaigns which could crowd out a debate on the important but technical question posed by the referendum.

The issue of a constitutional amendment is so important, and Government is determined to get it right and give more opportunity for an informed debate.

The Government remains committed to participating in the UPC and sees many benefits to Ireland’s ratification of the UPC: for the competitiveness of the small business sector; for Ireland’s overall national competitiveness and reputation; and for supporting the Science and R&D agenda.

Irish inventors can still acquire a Unitary Patent for their invention, but there will be a separate cost to register a patent in Ireland. For now, they will have to travel abroad and incur costs to protect their Unitary Patent in the 17 participating countries if any legal case arises.

The Government will decide on an alternative date for the referendum in due course.