Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is not that long ago since we had the collapse of Britain's Carillion group. The collapse of this British company led to significant delays in PPP contracts for the construction of schools here and raised serious questions about the whole PPP process. The process has tied the State into a system of large annual payments to PPP contractors for decades.

In 2016 the Comptroller and Auditor General report on PPPs stated that projects are vulnerable to legal challenges that can cause significant delays. Requested variations to a project after the contract has been agreed can lead to additional costs to the public sector partner. In 2018 a report by the Parliamentary Budget Office pointed out that PPPs represent a growing State liability and that they can potentially create private sector monopolies with the service being of poorer quality. Later that year the report of the interdepartmental agency group on PPPs indicated that the main purpose of PPPs was to get around spending rules during downturns. What role do these reports have in helping the Minister to decide whether the existing framework for PPP needs changing?

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