Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Linked Finance has brokered €1 million in lending after just six months. The UK Government has pledged to give £20 million to the UK's Funding Circle. It is willing to take a punt and has put necessary regulation in place for this sector. Crowdfunding is a solution for new start-up companies in areas where traditional lending methods have failed or will not take a risk. We discussed this last night with the Minister. The problem is we will be waiting for the EU to respond to this matter while companies looking for this kind of funding will give up and move to the UK where the funding is available. It must be remembered that funding is available in the northern part of this island. Will the Minister take a punt on crowdfunding and put regulations in place to ensure investment is protected rather than wait for an EU response in 2016 when the ship will have sailed?

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