Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

The Labour Party is minded to support Deputy Bruton's amendment. It seems reasonable that the assumptions underpinning the cost-benefit analysis should be transparent. Our party's finance spokesperson, Deputy Burton, referred at length on Second Stage and Committee Stage to a draft report on this matter by the Committee of Public Accounts. It dealt in particular with the kind of practices undertaken by other countries, including Australia and Canada. There is tension between the issues of commercial confidentiality and transparent public accountability, but other jurisdictions have been able to address the matter. This provision would afford the Comptroller and Auditor General, who is the guardian of our public expenditure, the fullest basis for assessing particularly important projects. We have all been examining the development of PPP structures in education and other areas compared to State projects. In general terms, Deputy Bruton's amendment is worthy of support.

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