Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)

Surely this is just another layer of bureaucracy, in the light of what the Minister of State has said. The National Development Finance Agency is only going to advise about finance. It will have no role other than obtaining finance for some of the public private partnerships and advising about the financial package. There is much more to those public private partnerships than just finance. There is, as I have already pointed out, the running of the business, the construction of it and so forth.

Senator McDowell said earlier that he did not know what the Bill was about. I was also at a loss and I am at a greater loss now. The Minister of State has spelt out in detail that this is only another layer of bureaucracy. We have established that and the Minister of State should tell it as it is.

When a company tenders for a group water scheme or a sewerage scheme this agency will evaluate the available financial packages and financial status of the tender. It will advise the local authority or the Government. However, it will not have the expertise, unless it employs it either inside or outside the State, in relation to the construction, the maintenance or the type of machinery. I am at a loss to know why the Government should set up a national development agency just to advise on the financial packages that will be available or as a vehicle for companies to raise the funding to carry out the public private partnership.

The Minister has confirmed what I thought, that it is another layer of bureaucracy. There is some merit in the proposal made Senator Phelan that the role of the agency should be given to other operators. There is no basis for setting it up for the sake of it and for advising about financial packages and funding.