Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform made the point in the letter:

As against this €3 billion Exchequer investment that is at risk [it turned out to be €2.6 billion or €2.7 billion] the private sector operator is only risking €175m of their own funds. I note that by 2028, the private operator is projected to have received [redacted] in dividends and interest, together with a repayment of [redacted] of the initial share capital, while the State will have spent up to €2.44 billion by that stage. In effect, the private operator will have all of their monies paid back while the Exchequer could have paid out almost €2.5 billion.

Was that wrong? That was the view of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform at the time, as expressed in the letter from its Secretary General of 16 April 2019.