Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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That is exactly the point I am coming to. The initial appraisals did not reflect the real costs of these projects. Most local authorities that entered a design-build-operate contract are now claiming that the annual payment they have to make to the PPP operator is far in excess of what was originally expected. Now that the PPP operators are the only monitors of the throughput of the water and wastewater plants, they have been able to raise certain issues which were not known or sufficiently accounted for at the design stage. Most local authorities are bitterly complaining that the annual charge for these plants is far in excess of what they originally budgeted for at the time of contracting.

That is the second reason I am stating the Department's figures are not only a bluff but are also inaccurate. Will the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform take this up with the Department? Many county managers have told me these PPPs are a phenomenal strain on local resources because they are much more expensive than originally factored.

Earlier, Mr. Brian Murphy said the best way to ensure value for money is to have a good tendering process. I disagree with him on this. It is the specification process before going to tender that is more fundamentally important. I am satisfied the specification process for many of the wastewater plants did not factor in everything that came to pass. The follow-through of the implementation of the contract is equally as important.