Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I was not aware of that. I would like to take credit for it even if I am two months late. I draw attention of the Minister of State to the US small business innovation research, SBIR, scheme. I think we could learn from it. It came into being in 1982 and obliges all US federal agencies to set aside a small percentage of research projects to procure research from SMEs. It particularly helps the high-tech industry, which the US Government talks so much about. The SBIR programme has developed more than $21 billion of research since 1982 by more than 15,000 firms, resulting in more than 45,000 patents. The programme founder, Rowland Tibbetts, said the purpose is to "provide funding for some of the best early-stage innovation ideas - ideas that, however promising, are still too high risk for private investors, including venture capital firms". For the purpose of the SBIR programme, small business is defined as a for-profit business with fewer than 500 employees. That is a large business Ireland. The Government could make a difference by pledging a percentage of money in this area. A similar model operated in the United Kingdom for a period and we could adopt similar legislation. The UK plans to introduce an SME champion in every Government department to check whether its procurement processes are appropriate for small businesses and smaller suppliers and to introduce mechanisms to speed up payment to SMEs. The US system, where SMEs must gain a percentage of budgets, could be of real benefit to SMEs. Has the Minister of State heard of this model and will he consider it?

Crowd funding is an interesting term. What is the Minister doing in terms of crowd funding to allow more businesses access to credit? Many people are willing to invest venture capital but they are unaware a certain company exists. We should consider the concept of crowd funding in order to solve this. Social networks of investors lend millions of euro in loans to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The business is worth €2 billion in the US. An entrepreneur makes use of online communities to solicit pledges of small amounts of money from individuals, who are typically not professional financiers. They have some money to invest but they do not know where to find the opportunity. They can now do so with social media. We can also think of this in terms of the Irish diaspora. They may have money to pledge but they do not know of an SME or start-up company in Ireland looking for finance. Many start-ups and venture capitalists have successfully connected through the system and it is worthwhile considering.

In other words, I am not stuck rigidly to what the Minister is trying to do but we support it. I have listened to what Senator White has said and to the remarks of Senator Keane as well. Clearly, we would prefer to see these measures on a greater scale but there is almost a need to convince people that they can get money if they do it correctly. We must help them to make the application and, then with the benefit of this finance, we can help them to take the first step on the way. I believe it is a worthy Bill and I am pleased to support it.