Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)

I am glad to have an opportunity to contribute to the debate on this important Bill. I am glad to see the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, here as he has a particular interest in the legislation. In fact, he has done a lot of preparatory work on it. When I was at the Cabinet table, it is no secret that this area exercised me considerably. At that time, I spoke to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, to see if we could get the legislation brought forward.

I heard Deputy Stanley speaking about his own constituency and I remember attending a meeting in October 2010 in a Tullamore hotel. There was one significant company which had recently made an application for examinership in the High Court. There were a number of PPP projects, including the construction of schools in Banagher, Ferbane and Portlaoise. I think I am right in saying that.

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