Michael Finucane (Fine Gael)

Then I will take the six minutes and Senator Browne can have six on another occasion time.

One must look at the Bill against the backdrop of the national development plan or, as we should describe it due to the disappointments with which it has provided us, the "notional development plan". When the plan for 2000-06 was launched, it seemed to herald a new dawn for infrastructural projects for the entire country. What has emerged has been a disappointment, probably because, as the Minister said, we are entering difficult financial times. Looking at the recent Estimates and the Minister's projections for different Departments, one can see that there has been an all-round cutting of capital expenditure. This agency and the public private partnership council will attempt to fill this vacuum.

I would be interested in discovering the nature of the 40 public private partnerships in existence at present, in order that we might gain an idea of the spread of activity and the degree to which it can apply to "Ireland Inc.". While I am aware of successful projects involving second level education establishments being administered by a British company, Jarvis Projects, and the recent opening of a school in Tubbercurry, it would be interesting to see what the investor is getting out of it compared to what the State put in and the cost-benefit to the State on a long-term basis compared to what it would be if it had initiated the expenditure itself.