Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Ms Tallon quoted paragraph 6.13 of the Comptroller and Auditor General's report which states that a capital cost of less than €40 million to €50 million would not be suitable currently for private finance. That is the point she was making.

Accepting that with regard to water services, some of the observations of the Comptroller and Auditor General could apply to transport and traffic projects.

The first sentence of paragraph 6.5 of the Comptroller and Auditor General's report states, "VFM [which I assume is value for money] appraisals are carried out for all proposed major public investments and a PPP cannot proceed unless it is found likely to deliver better value than traditional procurement. However, few VFM reviews of PPP projects have been published." The traditional rationale for that practice is commercial sensitivity.