Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

It is useful to have that kind of information to know the level of commitment in the future regarding those projects.

The question on the evaluation of value for money is one my predecessor and I have commented on, that is, explaining publicly where the value comes from in a public private partnership. The concern we would have, and to use an example of the schools, is where a succession of projects have been put out and developed under PPP. Effectively, somebody who has been successful in bundle 3 knows the commerciality of the deal and if there is not some explanation to allow others to understand what we are looking for and the kind of value we want, there is a risk that one is limiting the potential for competition in the market.

In terms of publishing something, it might not necessarily be the full value for money benchmarking exercise Mr. O'Kelly has mentioned but a cut-down version of that. The Deputy is correct that there are examples of where there would be an explanatory memorandum on a project explaining the nature of it, the key risks involved, who is carrying what risks, the headline commitments regarding it and why it is a better way of delivering the services we require than doing it by conventional means.