Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Chairman asked about public private partnerships, PPPs. Mr. Ó Foghlú said the Department had diversified in regard to school buildings and that some would be under PPPs while others would be dealt with by the Office of Public Works. Has the Department done a cost analysis or other comparison? I was on a VEC many years ago and PPPs were all the rage but they turned out to be a lot more expensive. A school in Donegal carried out a direct build which came in under budget and ahead of time. What cost analyses and what ongoing monitoring does the Department do on these? At the end of the operating lease of 25 years, is a new lease proposed or does it come back to the State?