Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

I can give a couple of points from the report. It was completed in October 2012 and the complex had opened around 2009. The stated overall aim of the review was to determine whether any stage of the courts project could have been done better, with any lessons applied to future projects. The review approach concentrated on assessing the processes used rather than the outcome of the project in terms of impact on court business. At an overall level, the review concluded that the project objectives had been realised within a timeframe appropriate for a PPP project of its complexity. It concluded that the project processes had been satisfactory. The review suggested that further analysis should be carried out to assess the operational impacts resulting from the delivery of the project.

In terms of learning lessons, the review included recommendations for the PPP process and some of the recommendations were specific to the project; others had more general application. These indicated that future projects should report against a benefits realisation plan and strategy and an issues log should be produced and maintained to record details of key decisions in a single document. It is important to distinguish between a process review, or seeing how procurement worked and whether it could be streamlined, and whether the value proposal or business case was realised.