Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I know that. Can the witness give us the figures as they are? In regard to the public private partnership, PPP, programme which is covered on page 20 of the Department's accounts, there is approximately €500 million of commitments to the seven projects listed. The note on page 21 indicates that they all include design, build and financing. Is the witness able to give us the financing cost in terms of the APR or interest rate for those bundles? Some of these projects were negotiated a few years ago. Can the witness contact the National Treasury Management Agency, NTMA, or the National Development Finance Agency to see whether that €500 million can be refinanced? Although most of those agreements are in place for 25 years, there should be an opportunity for them to be bought out or refinanced at different stages during the lifetime of the contract. If the NTMA is able to borrow at extremely low interest rates, I would hate to think the Department is paying 5%, 6%, 7% or 8% interest which the State does not need to be paying. A 1% saving on that €500 million amounts to €5 million. If a 3% or 4% saving could be made, it would be significant.