John Lyons (Dublin North West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for attending. Along with many other people I had first heard of LinkedFinance from the article in The Irish Times, which described a company not too far from Leinster House, and the idea sounded fantastic. I have met with the witnesses previously and I would be a big supporter of what they are trying to do in Ireland. There appears to be consensus already in the committee that it is an innovative and positive way to do business.
I will make two points. Obviously, this is part of a bigger roadmap in terms of how this cross-party group can try to direct policy at Government level regarding access to finance. The United Kingdom Government has taken the step and joined in with Funding Circle. We are not at that stage. I will put a question now to which I know the answer but I want it to be on the record to ensure it forms part of a report. Apart from the regulation side, if the Government were to approve this model, what steps would it need to take to ensure we can be informed on how to recommend this to Government?
I am very conscious that there are three business owners here today who have benefited from this. I would like to hear some of their experiences in that regard.