Ms Jean O'Sullivan:

The typical age profile for all entrepreneurs is 36 to 39, and it is the same for both males and females. Last year, we ran a competitive start fund, which is our early-stage equity investment for graduates. Some 40% of the successful applicants were female. Focusing on particular areas results in different projects that we do not see daily. The age profile very much depends on the type of company one is in. We often have spin-outs from universities. They are basically in life sciences and technology. The age profile can be younger than that of those who have already been on a career path and who are spinning out of corporate life.

It is a matter of focusing on different funding initiatives. Typically women do not come forward seeking funding. When Ms Sinnamon speaks about looking for additional angel and bank funding which could probably lend itself more to use by the female entrepreneurial population, it should be noted that many reasons for the figure for women being lower concern the fact that they are not actually applying for these types of investment in the first place. Women actually approach business differently from men and often seek smaller amounts of funding as they go along. Rather than seeking a €200,000 investment, they often seek €80,000, validate their idea, seek another €80,000 and then seek another €40,000. The work we are doing on trying to create awareness concerns how to fund-raise and have a business funding strategy that will allow one to have enough money in the reserves to grow one's business and confidently take on orders, etc. We all approach business differently.

On the question of technology, I have a very practical view. All the businesses we are seeing, regardless of the sector, have technology as an underbelly. We are trying to encourage more women into STEM subjects so they will have a foundation in all levels of business, thus keeping their options open in terms of the types of businesses they may be able to build in the future.

When I refer to a lack of technical skills among the women I work with, I do not mean they cannot outsource or bring others into their teams who have technical expertise but that it is very difficult to manage a software team if one has no basic foundation in any type of technology, be it related to engineering, electronics or software. Education is the key to being able to provide all the opportunities so women can make informed decisions on which sectors will offer them the greatest potential.