Mr. Aidan Carrigan:

First of all, crowd funding is already happening. Mr. Niall O'Sullivan has been attending meetings in Brussels on behalf of the Department that look at developments in other countries where it is happening. It is happening to a greater extent in some countries. This debate is being facilitated by the European Commission as part of its CMU programme. We are looking at the experience in other countries, what is happening in the market here and opportunities. It does not necessarily mean that the State will intervene.

This is one of those areas that may or may not benefit from irregulation, it may develop better left to its own resources. It is an area that we are interested in. We are aware that there are consumer protection issues but we are also aware of the opportunities. I know in the UK it is quite developed as a source of financing. We are looking at the experience of other countries and if we can pull all that together, with the other developments under capital markets union, it is one of these issues that can make part of the package of measures which will help improve financing.