Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

The Government is continuing to invest substantial Exchequer resources in capital infrastructure, with €7.3 billion allocated for capital projects in 2009 and some €31 billion allocated for the period to the end of 2013. This investment supports a substantial level of employment, while the reductions in tender prices mean that we can do more with less. Nonetheless, as Deputy Bruton is aware, the Government is also exploring new ways to fund capital investment. The pension funds industry and other institutional investors represent one possible source of additional private sector funding for public private partnership projects.

My officials, together with the National Development Finance Agency and others, have been actively engaged with several interested private sector parties to work through the details of funding proposals that could potentially help to unlock additional sources of private capital for infrastructure funding. The discussions are encouraging, and I hope to make progress on a mutually satisfactory basis. Clearly, the key issue for the State is to ensure that the terms are right and in the taxpayer's favour, that value for money is secured and that the private sector shares the appropriate level of risk to minimise the State's exposure to additional borrowing.

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