Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform ( Mr Howlin)

DÁIL QUESTION

To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the demand he sees for participation in public private partnerships; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

- Seamus Kirk.

* For ORAL answer on Wednesday, 21st November, 2012.

Ref No: 51638/12

Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform ( Mr Howlin) :

Ireland has a well established track record and a mature and well developed Public Private Partnership (PPP) arena in particular in the road sector and the education sector. There are also other major accommodation projects that were delivered as PPPs, such as the National Convention Centre and the Criminal Courts Complex.

I am aware that the new PPP pipeline of projects which I announced in July as part of the Government Infrastructure Stimulus Package has been welcomed by the market participants, in particular the construction sector. The two PPP procurement agencies, the National Development Finance Agency (NDFA) and the National Roads Authority have been working with industry to gauge interest in PPPs.

To ensure maximum participation and therefore greatest value for money on all projects, my Department and the NDFA are working to identify ways of increasing market confidence and therefore increase participation. An important element of such measures will be that sources of funding will be available for the projects. I am working with my colleague the Minister for Finance, Mr. Michael Noonan TD, to help ensure that this will be in place as projects are being rolled out and his Department is closely engaged with the NDFA in this regard.

Agreement on funding for the Schools Bundle 3 last week with the European Investment Bank (EIB) is seen as a further signal of the bank’s renewed confidence in the IrishState and our recovery programme.EIB president Werner Hoyer has said the landmark agreement of the EIBs support of Schools Bundle 3 marks the reopening of the PPP sector in Ireland. I expect that the N11/Newlands Cross roads PPP will close in early 2013, further reinforcing this confidence and our commitment to the PPP model.