Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

I noticed in the 2010 Estimates that a payment of approximately €66 million is being made in respect of PPPs. The Minister's civil servants told us when considering the Estimates that it is expected the payment will rise to approximately €600 million per annum as the big projects are developed over the years until 2015. Given that PPPs will be involved in some of the major public transport projects informed by the Minister's policy, what impact will this have on the budgetary position for 2011? Journalists talk about costs of €3 billion to €5 billion for metro north. Must this be the annual impact or will the costs be spread over 20, 30 or 40 years?

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