Mr. Fred Barry:

Currently, the Government does not propose that any of the PPPs being planned should be toll-based. In the absence of tolling, the risks that fall on PPP companies are primarily more traditional design and build risks. There are risks relating to the availability of the road following construction, but the relative level of risk for the PPP company at that point is significantly lower than it is where there is traffic risk.

The plan for the three PPPs included within the stimulus programme is to develop them without tolling. In those circumstances, the risk that the PPP companies are being asked to take are well within the level of risk that PPP entities and their funders are willing to take these days.

We still have the more general issue that much of the investment market is cautious about investing in Ireland. This is the sovereign risk issue. However, some funders are available, for example, domestic banks. The National Pensions Reserve Fund, NPRF, is also in the background. We are reasonably confident that funders can be found for the schemes we are proposing on the risk sharing plan that is currently in place.