European patent court referendum
Deputy Stanton asks when legislation and a referendum will be brought forward so Ireland can ratify the European patent court system. The Taoiseach says the Minister is handling ratification and that the current working plan is to hold the referendum alongside local and European elections next year.
The European Union patent court system came into force on 1 June and it has been ratified by 17 countries but we are not one of them. This is important for Irish business, inventors, entrepreneurs, researchers and others in the country generally. When will we publish legislation so that we can hold a referendum to ratify this European patent court and join the court itself? Has the Government any idea of when the referendum might be held?
Comment on this
The Minister, Deputy Coveney, is in charge of ratification. We want to join the European patent court. We do not have a definite date yet but we are working towards holding that referendum concurrently with the local and European elections next year. That is not formally or officially decided, but it is the working plan at the moment. It is up and running now and we are keen to be part of it.