Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 6 December 2012

Public Accounts Committee

2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 16 - Central Government Funding of Local Authorities

12:30 pm

Photo of Mary Lou McDonaldMary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for arriving late to the meeting.

Let me deal with the PPPs. Most people work on the assumption that PPPs involve a quid pro quo, in other words, that there is private provision of capital for infrastructure and that, in return, the State gains. It is worth saying at this meeting that this is not the case with water infrastructure, which is the subject I want to explore. State money is used for water infrastructure projects. I am putting this on the record because nine out of ten people, even very well-informed people to whom I talk, assume a PPP involves some private investment, if not 100% private investment, at the outset. That is not the case in respect of these projects.

With regard to the value-for-money argument, the State provides the capital. The construction, operation and maintenance are done privately. What the State really does is hand over great revenue-generating potential to private hands. Is that a fair comment?

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