Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I did not see the television programme that Senator Zappone referred to but the way she spoke about it reminds us of the onus of responsibility. The debate back in October was a vivid exploration of the problems. The reference to the murder in Tallaght last night also serves to remind us of the onus of responsibility and the need to continue to invest not only in the protection against crime but also to invest in the community, whether for prostitution or other events.

There was a very useful debate in the House yesterday. However, I was frustrated at the constraint of the Minister who wished to reply and who wanted another hour and could have given us another hour easily. We must find some way to overcome that. It was a good and healthy debate and it could have gone on longer. I had 15 seconds to ask a question and it was the same for others. It is an event and a reminder of how much we can achieve in the House if we put our minds to how we will achieve it.

I wish to draw the Government's attention to a phrase I had never heard before, namely, "crowd funding". It comes from the United States. Will the Government establish a website to allow people to pledge money to start-up companies? This has been done in the United States. It is very interesting and the venture takes in $2 billion per year in investments. It is somewhat like "Dragon's Den" and allows people to invest in start-up companies. The British Chancellor of the Exchequer is considering something similar with a corresponding website in Britain. I suggest there should be a Government website to encourage people and perhaps to allow them to use their pension ahead of time to invest in start-up companies. We continually refer to small and medium-sized enterprises, SMEs, being the future for job creation and enterprise in Ireland. However, they cannot get money from the banks. We know that people are willing to invest if only they knew about it. The American concept of a crowd funding website is such that, if something similar were done here, we could attract investment not only from people living in Ireland but from the diaspora. The diaspora could invest in Ireland in small companies they were unaware of and they could indicate the type of investment they wish to make and the type of venture capital they believe could benefit Ireland. Certainly, it could benefit companies that must start out with all the red tape and the issuing of shares that is necessary otherwise. This is something the Government should consider and I urge the Leader to remind the Minister to Google "crowd funding in the United States" to establish if there is something we could do with a similar website here.