Mr. Conor O'Kelly:

I am relatively new to this, but my observation is that the PPP projects are probably the ones with which we as citizens should feel most comfortable in terms of getting value for money because they must jump two or three hurdles in order to proceed. Initially, a sponsoring Department engages in a desktop exercise to determine whether it should do it directly or take the PPP route. If it decides that it meets the guidelines for a PPP project set down by the Departments of Public Expenditure and Reform and Finance, it goes to us and the NDFA. The public sector benchmark is constructed together with all of the methodology to be used not just in determining the upfront capital cost but all of the maintenance and servicing costs over the lifetime of the project. The procurement process then starts and if the preferred tender or preferred bidder comes back with a tender, it has to be below the public sector benchmark; otherwise, the project will not be allowed to proceed to the next stage. That is the test. Before it reaches financial close, probably six to nine months down the road, there must be a retest against the public sector benchmark in case any of the variables has changed. Only then will it be signed off on and allowed to move forward as a PPP. There are a number of tests in which one has to meet the criteria. That is important.