The Government should establish specialist "e-courts" to focus on technology issues to enable the Republic to maintain its competitiveness in the field of technology, a new report has recommended.

These courts would provide a secure and certain justice process that would attract investment to the Republic, according to the Forfás report Legislating for Competitive Advantage in e-Business and Information & Communications Technologies.

It says patent, copyright and intellectual property law should be updated to protect the rights of companies that develop intellectual property. The Council of Europe's Convention on Cybercrime should be implemented early to give businesses and consumers confidence that they have the same legal security as they have for normal transactions.

It also recommends the creation of a new offence of "theft of confidential information" to take account of the increasing value of information to Irish businesses.

Mr Martin Cronin, chief executive of Forfás, said a secure legal environment for e-business and information and communications technologies was critical to building a knowledge-based economy that could sustain growth.