Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have two brief final questions. I refer to the issue of public private partnerships, PPPs, and the Department having in place a work programme. Obviously, as members can see on the ground, there has been a population explosion, particularly among the younger age groups now coming into primary school and, by definition, into the secondary schools thereafter. It has recently been reported that the Department's sister Department in the United Kingdom has concerns regarding the level of profit being taken out of PPPs by the private element. I have two questions in this regard without wishing to question in any way the professionalism of various contractors. Is the Department satisfied with the robustness of the PPP model in respect of the taxpayer getting proper value for money? Second, is the Department satisfied with regard to school bundles? As the numbers of building companies of scale in Ireland have reduced, will the Department have proper competition with regard to tenders coming in for PPPs in its next round of bundles? These are two linked questions.