Anthony Lawlor (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for not being present for the presentation. I would have though the National Pensions Reserve Fund, could have had a major role to play at the start of the crisis, but unfortunately the funding of the NPRF was used for the banks. I would have been considering what the former US President Roosevelt operated during the New Deal programme to get people back to work and using the fund for similar initiatives. I am pleased to see the change in thinking so that the fund is being partially used for this purpose. Does it impact on the national balance sheet that some of the funding is being used to invest in infrastructure, companies or private investors? We were always told to worry that it might have a detrimental impact. I know the funding is not large but could it have a detrimental effect on the overall national picture we must present? Will Mr. O'Callaghan address these points?

Again I greatly welcome the investment in public private partnerships. I have looked at a number of local projects, for example a roads project in which the cost benefit analysis is greater than an alternative roads project. I would like to see more involvement in PPPs because the knock-on effect is increased economic growth. This will have positive benefits for the economy. I look forward to the ISIF getting actively involved in PPPs because I see it as a long-term benefit to the pension fund. How will the team deal with the increased activity that will result from the PPPs?