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

The answer to the Deputy's question varies by project. I believe private financing can play an important role in allowing important public projects to go ahead. The example I would give to the Deputy is the recent loan made by the European Investment Bank to allow us to move ahead with the new national children's hospital which is under construction. We have public private partnerships all over the country that, for example, have allowed primary care centres and schools to go ahead. I believe that in the future we will be able to find a way to allow the publication of cost-benefit analyses that will not impinge on commercial sensitivities but allow the State to get good value for such projects in the future. A matter with which I am dealing at present, of which I am sure the Deputy is aware, is any spillover effects that may have been caused by the difficulties concerning Carillion in the UK. Yesterday I met the National Treasury Management Agency, part of whose work is to deal with public private partnerships. We are working now to ensure that any potential difficulties here in Ireland are dealt with, particularly in respect of a number of schools that are part of public private partnerships. We want to ensure that the expectations of their pupils, their teachers and their communities are met.

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