Brendan Ryan (Labour)

I have raised this point previously in the House. One comes off a roundabout on the M50 and sees a sign, "toll ahead", but there is no sign indicating the toll one is required to pay or which lane one should be in. By the time one knows which lane one should be in, one is irretrievably committed to the lane one is in. An extraordinary profitable company should be able to put together proper indications. I have no interest in getting involved in an ideological debate about public private partnerships, which can work very well.

In order for public money to be used efficiently, we must have dispassionate analysis. I am disappointed with the Comptroller and Auditor General because some of his analysis was not dispassionate. I thought it was quite trivial. One cannot compare €300 million spent over 25 years with €45 million spent today and pretend there is no difference. I need only reflect on how much my house cost me in terms of paying a mortgage over 20 years. I bought the house for €35,000. I do not even want to think about how much it cost me.