Wednesday, 23 Jan 2013

Written Answers Nos. 126-134

Employment Rights Issues

Questions (126)

Willie O'Dea

Question:

126. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if his attention has been drawn to the situation regarding workers (details supplied) in County Limerick, who have been forced to stage a sit-in in order to attempt to get moneys owed to them by the company; the steps he is taking to ensure that the workers are paid the moneys owed to them; if he will facilitate easy access to social welfare entitlements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3435/13]

Written answers

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

I share your concern in relation to the position of the employees in the company’s stores in Limerick and elsewhere who have been understandably apprehensive about the future of their jobs and the payment of monies owed to them by their employer. I understand that this situation has arisen due to difficulties across its operations in the UK and Ireland, arising from dramatic changes in the way music and films are bought and sold. On becoming aware of the evolving situation in the company last week, I asked the National Employment Rights Authority (NERA) to contact the workers involved in the sit-ins and to mobilise NERA resources to answer queries from all workers on their employment rights. My Department established a direct line of contact with the receiver from the outset and I was assured that communicating with staff would be a priority. I understand that, over the weekend, the receiver secured the agreement of staff to discontinue their sit-ins in return for his commitment to arrange for payment of wages this week. The receiver has indicated he is making every effort to find a buyer for the Irish operation.

In the event that an insolvent employer is unable to pay monies due to employees in respect of pay, overtime, holiday pay, sick pay etc. there are a number of protections in legislation which enable the employees to receive payment out of the Social Insurance Fund. In relation to access to social welfare entitlements, I would point out that this is a matter for my colleague the Minister for Social Protection.

Economic Competitiveness

Questions (127)

Micheál Martin

Question:

127. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the actions he is taking to realise his commitment to make Ireland the best small country in which to do business; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56511/12]

Written answers

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (Deputy Richard Bruton)

The Action Plan for Jobs has set out the objective of creating 100,000 jobs by 2016 and making Ireland the best small country in which to do business.

Ireland is already rated highly internationally as one of the best countries in the world in which to do business, and we have built a strong competitive basis on which to go out and compete on global markets. Ireland is currently ranked 27th in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index 2012-2013, with our position improving up to 20th in the IMD’s World Competitiveness Yearbook 2012. Ireland is also ranked 15th in the World Bank’s Doing Business 2012 Report.

There are a number of key areas where Ireland tops the global list, such as:

- business impact of rules on foreign direct investment;

- inflation;

- FDI and technology transfer;

- availability of skilled labour;

- flexibility and adaptability of the labour force; and

- investment incentives.

We have jumped ahead of a number of other small countries in the latest international competitiveness rankings, such as Belgium and New Zealand. We need to make sure that we tackle those remaining areas where we can best support our enterprises and our people.

What is even more important, though, is that Ireland’s underlying competitiveness potential, those important factors for achieving sustainable competitiveness in the medium and longer term, and having a supportive environment enabling enterprises to go out and do business successfully, are those factors where Ireland shows particular strengths. The EU Commission’s Competitiveness Report 2012 shows that Ireland is better than the EU average in the vast majority of the competitiveness indicators examined, including in relation to labour productivity, our share of high-tech exports, the energy intensity of industry and our overall business environment.

The Action Plan for Jobs 2012 contains over 270 actions designed to improve the operating environment for business, enhance our competitiveness and support the creation of employment. One of these actions focused on identifying specific actions we need to take to deliver the aim of making Ireland the best small country to do business. Forfás has prepared a Report which provides detailed costs profiles to assess the importance of various costs to 17 sectors of the economy and assesses Ireland’s cost performance vis-à-vis our key competitors across seven key cost categories. As well as acknowledging the range of activities that are currently underway to improve cost competitiveness, the report recommends a series of actions that would support further improvements in cost competitiveness, which the Government will pursue in 2013 and future years in order to achieve this objective.

The “Action Plan for Jobs 2013” will be published shortly, with the aim of building on the progress already achieved during 2012, and will set out further measures to improve our competitiveness with the overall aim of achieving our commitment to making Ireland the best small country in which to do business.

International Agreements

Questions (128, 129, 130, 131, 132)

Seán Crowe

Question:

128. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the Unitary Patent package including an EU regulation and an International Agreement amongst the 25 member states, and the creation of a Unified Patent Court may require a constitutional change in Denmark; his views on whether this development involves a transfer of sovereignty; and if this will require a constitutional referendum in this State. [1669/13]

Seán Crowe

Question:

129. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will provide an update on the state of ratification of the Patent Package in EU member States. [1668/13]

Seán Crowe

Question:

130. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his views on whether the development of an EU unified litigation patent system creates a second legal order inside national legal orders and a parallel judicial system beside national judicial systems. [1670/13]

Seán Crowe

Question:

131. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he has had discussions with his EU counterparts regarding the ratification of the patent package in EU member states; and the dates on which these discussions were held and the counterparts with whom he had discussions. [1671/13]

Seán Crowe

Question:

132. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he has had any discussions with his EU counterparts regarding the current patent system in the EU; if any of the discussions have pertained to maintaining linguistic diversity within member states and the patent system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1672/13]

Written answers

Minister of State at the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (Deputy Sean Sherlock)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 128 to 132, inclusive, together.

In December 2012, political agreement was reached under the Cypriot Presidency on what is referred to as the patents “package” which comprises of two EU Regulations on the creation of a unitary patent and the applicable translation arrangements, as well as an international Agreement on a Unified Patent Court.

It is our objective, under the Irish Presidency, to complete the final formal stage of this process which involves obtaining the signature of participating Member States to the International Agreement on the Unified Patent Court. After signature of the Agreement, Member States will commence the ratification process. The process of ratification of the Agreement on the Unified Patent Court is one that must be addressed individually by each Member State and is primarily a national issue.

In Ireland’s case, this will entail holding a constitutional referendum to allow the transfer of limited jurisdictional powers to the Unified Patent Court relating solely to patent disputes. This is not without precedent, as Ireland previously amended the constitution in 1992 to allow for the ratification of the Agreement relating to Community Patents, which subsequently did not come into effect.

This proposed transfer of jurisdictional powers will enable a unitary patent for at least twenty-five EU Member States to be properly enforced, enhancing the Single Market for intellectual property. This shift towards the Unified Patent Court will ensure uniformity of decisions on key issues relating to the new unitary patent and will create a new legal paradigm of a judicial remedy for unitary patents which will lessen costs and improve legal certainty in the EU.

Under the current system, a European patent can be enforced only at national level, which entails translating it into the official language of the country concerned. Under the proposed unitary patent system and associated translation arrangements, once the patent is granted, it will be automatically enforceable in 25 Member States without the need for further translations. It is important to point out however that automatic machine translations of patent specifications into all EU languages is currently being developed and when fully implemented will uphold the principle of linguistic diversity within the European Union.

Currently, translation costs of patent specifications represent a very high proportion of the cost of the European patent and this places Europe at a distinct disadvantage vis-à-vis other major trading partners such as the United States and others. The European Commission estimates that patent translations can account for up to sixty-three per cent of the cost of protecting a patent in Europe.

It is anticipated that the Agreement will come into effect in 2014, along with the corresponding EU Regulations on the unitary patent system. This will enable participating Member States to obtain a unitary patent valid in 25 Member States at a fraction of the current cost, while also making it far more affordable to enforce their patent rights.

Intellectual Property Management

Questions (133, 134)

Niall Collins

Question:

133. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his actions to date and future plans in tackling digital piracy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54531/12]

Niall Collins

Question:

134. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his actions to date and his future plans to tackle digital piracy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55491/12]

Written answers

Minister of State at the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

I propose to take Questions Nos. 133 and 134 together.

An effective intellectual property system should provide a legislative and regulatory framework that affords an appropriate level of protection to Right Holders that incentivises creativity and innovation and enables Right Holders to obtain fair economic reward from their investment in Intellectual Property be that from patents, trademarks or copyright and related works. Moreover, Right Holders need to be assured that where IP rights are infringed or subject to unauthorised attack, remedial action and mechanisms for redress are available to protect those Rights. Ireland is generally regarded as having an effective IP system that provides comfort on both those fronts.

With regard to enforcement which lies at the heart of the Deputy’s question, Ireland has implemented fully the 2004 EU Directive on the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (2004/48/EC). The European Commission is currently reviewing this Directive and we will consider any follow-up proposals that the Commission may bring forward as a result of this review. The provisions of this Directive complemented existing provisions of domestic patent, trademark and copyright legislation which set a high standard in terms of enforcement measures and remedial action that Right Holders can avail of.

As regards digital piracy in particular, the Copyright and Related Rights Act, 2000 governs the protection of copyright and provides for rights and remedies against those who engage in such activities. Where it has been found necessary to strengthen legislation in this area, appropriate action to ensure that digital piracy can be effectively tackled has been taken. Specifically, in the context of the European Union (Copyright and Related Rights) Regulations 2012 which were signed into law in February 2012, these Regulations clarified beyond doubt the position that a court injunction could be sought and granted against intermediaries whose services were being used by a third party to infringe a copyright or related right. I can assure the Deputy that my Department keeps under active and ongoing review, measures that may be necessary to maintain an effective IP system to ensure that Ireland’s legislation in this area is fully fit for purpose.