Mr. Seamus Coffey:

An oversight in my previous answer was that I did not address the issue of PPPs. One must ask where the risk lies. If huge sums of money are to be devoted to a project and there is to be a partnership, is the risk being divided? In the case of some of the transport projects undertaken on this basis, the risk lies almost entirely on the Government side. What benefit to the public finances is achieved by adopting this approach, particularly when we have traffic estimates set in 2006 and 2007 based on growth projections that turned out to be wildly optimistic? The Government must then step in and fund shortfalls owing to incorrect traffic projections, thereby increasing spending in the future. We have concerns over PPPs based on the question of whether one is actually moving the risk on to somebody else. There can be benefits in terms of raising revenue but the risks should be divided.