Key requests made in the ISA's Budget Submission 2005 were for:

• An increase in the Seed Capital Scheme and the BES (Business Expansion Scheme) to €5 million per company;
• Increased personal limits for these schemes to €300,000 per investor per annum;
• Increased government spending on technology from SME's;
• A review of the R&D tax credit to allow more indigenous companies to benefit from the tax credit; and
• Amendments to the legislation governing the tax treatment of employee stock options under a revenue approved scheme.

In an interview with the Irish Independent this week, Mr Friel elaborated on the Association's demands, explaining that:

"Irish people have invested over $40bn in property, both here and abroad, between 1998 and 2003, whereas less than $1bn was invested in technology start-ups in the same period."

He went on to add that:

"The Business Expansion Scheme has a limit of €35,000 per individual investor, whereas in the UK an investor can plough as much as £1m into a venture capital trust as a tax shelter. With the Irish economy at near full employment, there must be strong incentives to persuade entrepreneurs to give up well-paid jobs for the insecurity of a start-up, and access to plentiful venture capital funds is needed."