Mr. John O'Dea:

Mr. Flannery put it well when he spoke about the need for a debt product that recognises the higher risk - high coupon debt. The venture debt products that exist generally require an equity injection of two-thirds, but if one is looking for debt, one is not looking for two-thirds equity at the same time. Otherwise, a business would just do an equity raise.

We must recognise that it is riskier to lend into some of these technology companies that do not necessarily have assets, other than intellectual property. However, there is a clear need for something above pure debt and below the kind of swing for the fences type investment that venture capital firms will make. Many companies are not going for billion dollar markets. If we could build a bunch of companies employing 40 or 50 people with a revenue of €10 million or €15 million, this would be fantastic for the economy, but this is not the type of company a venture capital firm is set up to invest in. Equally, venture capital firms generally have seven-year funding cycles, but it takes a lot longer than seven years to build a company of substance. Therefore, I feel strongly there is need for something like the old ACC Bank or a bank that is a little more investment oriented where the coupon is correspondingly high. Many companies would be willing to take on that debt.