Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour)
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211. To ask the Minister for Finance if there are any plans for legislation that allows persons who invested in projects via crowd sourcing websites to receive equity for their investment like the Jobs Act which was introduced in the United States of America last year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20390/13]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The Review of the Equity Investment Landscape in Ireland published by Forfás earlier this year considered the issue of crowd funding and the changes introduced by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (JOBS) in the United States. The Review recognised that "many internationally orientated Irish companies preferred option is to raise capital overseas". These companies may be able to exploit the funding opportunities offered by the JOBS Act. The Government has taken a number of significant initiatives aimed at providing equity support for SMEs. The NPRF has announced two funds which will invest in SMEs. The SME Equity Fund (total fund size €300 million - €350 million / NPRF commitment €125 million) will focus on investing in healthy businesses seeking to grow, including those with overleveraged balance sheets. The fund, which has received commitments from other-third party investors, is operational and is managed by Carlyle Cardinal Ireland.

The SME Turnaround Fund (total effective fund size €100 million / NPRF commitment €50 million) will invest in underperforming businesses which are at or close to the point of insolvency but have the potential for financial and operational restructuring. Typically 40 per cent of the capital invested by the fund will be used to buy the business and 60 per cent will be used to finance the turnaround in order to place it on a sustainable long-term footing. The fund is also operational and is managed by Better Capital.

In addition, the NPRF is also currently reviewing additional SME fund opportunities that would complement these funds, with the objective that the eventual suite of funds would have the capacity to invest across the full spectrum of SME financing needs.

The 10 point Tax reform plan to help small business announced in the 2013 budget is another initiative which is aimed at assisting SMEs gain access to funding. These measures complement measures already being undertaken by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and bodies under its aegis. In particular, Innovation Fund Ireland and Development Capital Fund Ireland provide equity for SMEs.

The Temporary Partial Credit Guarantee scheme addresses the situation where the SME is outside the risk appetite of the banks. This can arise because the SME's lack of collateral or the banks' lack of understanding of the business model, the market, the sector or the technology. The three main SME lenders are all participating in the Guarantee scheme.

The Microenterprise Loan Fund Scheme will provide loans of up to €25k to start-up, newly established, or growing microenterprises employing less than 10 people, who have commercially viable proposals that do not meet the conventional risk criteria applied by banks.

The SME State Bodies Group was established in 2012 to both develop key policy initiatives to support SME access to credit and other forms of finance, and to ensure their implementation. It will continue in 2013 to engage intensively in proactively addressing issues associated with SME funding and financing in conjunction with the relevant stakeholders through the SME Funding Consultation Committee. My officials also meet frequently with additional stakeholders who wish to contribute to policy development in relation to access to finance.

One of the actions assigned to the State Bodies Group under the Action Plan for Jobs 2013 is to "Investigate the potential for alternative funding mechanisms including peer to peer lending, supply chain finance and crowdfunding."

A matrix on SME funding has been completed and published on Department of Finance website and smallbusinessfinance.ie website. This matrix outlines various sources of funding available to SME and provides contact information for them.

Crowd funding is in its infancy in Ireland. I am aware of a peer to peer credit website which was recently launched in Ireland. Irish entities, particularly in the creative fields, have accessed other crowd funding sites. However, the issue of crowdsourcing equity and securities regulations is not an issue which has been raised with my Department. Company Law comes under the aegis of the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation.