Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I accept that. I thank the Chair for indulging me somewhat. It is not really legitimate to say that just because it could happen in a non-PPP scenario, it is all right for it to happen in a PPP scenario. The witnesses represent the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. When State money is paid out, the Department should ensure that the people who did the work get paid for it. That applies whether the expenditure is in a PPP framework or otherwise. In a private context, that is not the Department's responsibility. It is for somebody dealing with a private business to deal with. However, when public money is spent on behalf of all of us, supposedly for the benefit of the people, we should look at mechanisms to protect everybody in the supply chain. It cannot be that one fellow can take all the money, run off and go wallop, and then all the people down the line who have done work for the State are hit by it. I thank the Chair.