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

The concept of privatisation implies that there is a public service being delivered in the first place that is then discharged out to the private sector. As the Deputy already knows, the reason I separated the different PPPs is that we tend to have the public service being delivered for a project that has been built by the private sector. A wastewater treatment plant is a good example. By delivering it via PPP, we got a new plant and we get the staff to manage it. When talking about privatisation, it is not the case that the plant existed in the first place and then the staff were moved from the public sector into the private sector. We are talking about something entirely new: a new asset with new staff to maintain the asset. I assure the Deputy that we always compare and contrast and evaluate whether it is right for the State to go ahead and directly build the project itself through the local authorities and through organisations such as Uisce Éireann, or whether it is better done through a PPP. In some cases there is merit in using the PPP because it allows the State to manage the cost over a longer time period.

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