Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am afraid retrospection will not be possible as this is to stimulate future interest in PPPs. I do not want to open a can of worms and have people come after us for projects that have been cancelled, particularly when the construction industry collapsed. It looks forward rather than back. I am anxious to get PPPs moving and it was a cause of great frustration that for nearly two years, we did not have PPP projects despite robust PPPs being on offer. We had no takers because people such as architects, designers and construction companies had been burned, having spent good money in making applications for projects that did not go ahead. We needed to bring confidence back to the market, and the strong advice I had from the NDFA was to introduce these measures. I will ask the NDFA to contact the Deputy and perhaps give a direct briefing on the matters, as it might be worthwhile to ensure he understands exactly the rationale and reasoning behind the NDFA's recommendations on the matter.

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