Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 13 December 2012

Public Accounts Committee

2010 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
National Development Finance Agency Financial Statements 2011

12:20 pm

Mr. Brian Murphy:

There will be problems of conflicts of interest. The State will have a seat on the board of the PPP company. There could be serious differences between the equity holders about how to apply life cycle funds or reserves or whatever. The other potential drawback, and we have been hearing some negative feedback from the market about this initiative, is the notion that before a financial close, the promoter or main sponsor - the biggest equity holder, in other words - will be required to sell off some of its equity to institutional investors such as pension funds, for example. I have a sense that professional investors in infrastructure, who will have borne the big cost risk, will not be too happy about that.