Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am aware of the debate that the Deputy is referring to and have read literature on the matter. I will be careful in the commitments we make in this area.

The Deputy referred to the 2013 study. What has changed since then is that, in some cases, due to the difference in the rate at which our country can afford to borrow, sourcing projects through public private partnerships so that they do not come onto the State balance sheet has to be looked at.

It is important that the House is aware of the following figures in regard to bullet payments in terms of choices that we will have to make. In 2017, the costs of PPP unitary payments, in other words payments we make to companies that have built public assets, is €224 million. This will increase until 2021, when it is expected to peak at €340 million per year. These are significant commitments.

The other side of the coin, which is very significant, is these payments pay for the maintenance of the asset. If one looks at a school that was delivered via public private partnership, the payments to which I am referring pay for the maintenance of that asset over its lifetime. Not only are we able to build infrastructure in such a way that we can meet demands for current funding, we can use Exchequer funding for projects that the private sector might not want to build because the risk might be too high. That is the space in which PPPs need to be considered. They do have commitments, as I have shared with the Deputy, but they also pay for the maintenance of the asset. When it comes to roads in particular, that is a really significant benefit which has an economic value.

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