Ms Regina Breheny:

We are talking about the entrepreneurs. They are the ones who suffer when they sell out. It is a long process for them and they tend not to take a commercial salary early on. It is sweat money. However, they are crucified with capital gains tax when they sell their companies. In the UK, the rate is significantly lower so there is a relative incentive. That is the problem. The UK was very far behind Ireland until a year or two ago, to the extent that activity here in terms of fundraising for companies was approximately 25% of what it was in the UK. That was notwithstanding the fact that the UK economy is 16 times the size of Ireland's. However, the UK is catching up very quickly now because of its progressive tax regime for entrepreneurs.