Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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175. To ask the Minister for Finance the regulatory framework with regard to crowd funding as a non-bank source of finance. [24075/17]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Crowdfunding is an innovative, technology-based form of finance that can be a valuable source of funding for SMEs, either as a complement, or as an alternative, to traditional bank finance. Crowdfunding also provides consumers and small investors with access to investment opportunities that offer a higher rate of return, at a higher risk, than is generally available from traditional credit institutions.

As the Deputy will be aware, crowdfunding is not currently a regulated activity in Ireland, and the Central Bank of Ireland has issued an information notice alerting consumers to this fact, available at:

The European Commission has indicated that harmonised European regulation of crowdfunding is not anticipated at present.

The IFS 2020 2017 Action Plan commits the Government to conducting a public consultation on the potential regulation of crowdfunding, having regard to international best practice and in the context of the EU Commission Action Plan on Building a Capital Markets Union. My Department launched a public consultation on the regulation of crowdfunding on the 21^stApril 2017 running for a period of six weeks, until 2 June 2017, available at:

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The purpose of the consultation is to understand how to best facilitate the development of the evolving and innovative crowdfunding industry in Ireland, for the benefit of the economy, while also ensuring adequate protection for small investors and consumers. This examination of crowdfunding, through a public consultation, will help inform my Department's policy position on whether or not a regulatory regime for crowdfunding would be appropriate and if a bespoke regime should be implemented in Ireland.