Michael Ahern (Cork East, Fianna Fail)

The philosophy behind this particular section is to make it less costly for small entrepreneurs to raise money and not to have them tied up in the considerable red tape and detail required under the prospectus directive. As Senator McDowell stated and as I said, there is a certain amount of risk involved in this area but we are not talking about large amounts of money. The people who would invest that type of money would weigh up the risks against the advantages. I do not believe this type of investment would be for the ordinary investor. That is my personal belief.