Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

The Government remains committed to the use of the public private partnership process as a viable Government option for appropriate projects within the overall parameters set out for public investment in infrastructure and public services.

PPP procurement is one option to be used alongside traditional approaches for the delivery of public investment projects. In choosing to adopt the PPP approach for a particular project Departments and agencies must assess, in conjunction with their advisors, the optimum model to use in the prevailing circumstances. There is a wide variety of possible PPP models provided for in legislation and elaborated on in central guidance issued by my Department. Within these models the form of the arrangement entered into would be specific to each project.

The approach offers several advantages which I outlined in an earlier answer. A summary list of PPP projects is available on the public private partnership website — www.ppp.gov.ie. This list includes 73 projects each of which has an estimated capital value over €20 million, which Departments and agencies advise have reached various stages of the PPP appraisal and procurement process. A total of 13 projects are operational and 15 are in construction. In addition, the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government advises there are over 100 projects in the local government sector with a capital value of less than €20 million that are progressing as PPPs.

For specific projects, the Department has the same role in public private partnership projects as it does in capital investment projects generally. Based on Government policy, the Department of Finance sets the overall capital investment framework and the basic principles to be observed for the appraisal, assessment, procurement and evaluation of projects. Individual Ministers are responsible for the projects and programme in their areas, within that overall framework.

See this speech in context