Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister has stated the Government did not have the money to do it until now. I know PPP payments are current expenditure rather than capital. The Government can borrow money at 1.7% and it could do so for school building rather than being pushed into the arms of the PPPs - their cost can be up to 15%. It is surely a no-brainer.

It will save a lot of money in the long term and is such a good investment for the country. Money has probably never been as cheap in our lifetime as the 1.7% rate at which the State can borrow. It is fantastic, except that the State is not allowed to borrow at 1.7% to invest in as serious a matter as infrastructure because of the EU rules. The truth is that, although we are not getting this information from freedom of information requests, PPPs spread over a 25 year period are costing up to 15%. Is this not something worth challenging the EU on? Investment in infrastructure is a winner all round and money has never been as cheap. It has never made so much sense to invest in infrastructure, if we could do it through a normal scheme rather than pushing it into the arms of the PPPs.

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