Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

The Accounting Officer from City of Dublin Education and Training Board confirmed in her correspondence that a discussion took place on the standards to be achieved in terms of call answering. We drew attention to the fact that while the initial requirement was that 100% of calls had to be answered within 30 seconds, that was dropped to 80% of calls. It is interesting that she stated in her correspondence: "[i]t is also the case that the agreed service levels under such a contract when the relevant agreed forecast is exceeded". That is a useful scenario for a service provider because it effectively means that any demand risk in provision of the service is carried by the State rather than the contractor. Much of the process in agreeing public-private partnerships involves the appropriate sharing of risks by assigning them to the party best placed to carry them. It is arguable whether that is a good deal in terms of the likely service provided to persons trying to use call centres.