Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

Two major policy initiatives next year will help to determine our wider energy policy strategy in the medium term. The review of national climate change and the energy policy review are going on within the Department, both on the carbon credits and the EU emissions trading scheme. They are listed for discussion at the committee in the early part of the new year.

I will not go into detail on individual PPPs, but the role of the centre of expertise, which is located in the National Development Finance Agency, will be expanded to include the procurement function on behalf of Departments in addition to its existing role as adviser to Departments on PPP procurement. That strengthens the process considerably from where it was. The agency has commenced the new activity on an interim, non-statutory basis, pending the introduction of enabling legislation, which we will have in the new year. The centre will provide the skills and capacity required to support the procurement of key infrastructural projects by PPPs in the central Government area. By concentrating initially on the three key Departments — as the Deputy has mentioned, they are the Department of Education and Science, the Department of Health and Children and the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform — an improved deal flow of PPP projects will be generated and a resource focus will bring them to completion.

I do not know about the Shannon project, but 23 new post-primary schools and four new primary schools will be provided under public-private partnerships. Work has commenced on them. A number of other local government projects are also operating.

See this speech in context