There was an air of pessimism at the Irish Internet Association’s (IIA) post-Budget 2016 briefing and, in particular, Dr Constantin Gurdgiev said believes it did not go far enough for Irish tech start-ups.
The assistant professor of finance at Trinity College Dublin (TCD), and co-founder and director of a number of financial services start-ups, was particularly critical of how the Irish Government did not look to our neighbours in the UK for guidance on how best to help start-ups get on their feet.
Speaking with Siliconrepublic.com, Dr Gurdgiev pointed to the suggestion that the new corporate tax exemptions and Knowledge Development Box (KDB) favour large multinational corporations and don’t really apply to start-ups.
Looking to the future, Dr Gurdgiev said that, among other wishes, the Government will need to make it much easier to incentivise share ownership for employees and key advisers, in a way that is similar to what is seen in UK law.
Words by Colm Gorey
