Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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Question 84: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if a new round of PPP school buildings will be announced; if any changes will be made to the PPP contract based on the experience of PPPs in education to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19724/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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My colleague, the Minister for Finance, provided a capital envelope of €555 million in respect of education PPPs for the period 2005 to 2009 and I am examining how this may be best utilised. This examination covers both schools and the third level sector.

A key rationale underpinning the decision to proceed with the initial bundle of five schools was to test the PPP procurement method in the case of schools to learn from the experience and thereby to inform future usage of a PPP approach to procuring schools.

Based on the experience to date from the use of the PPP process for the National Maritime College and the schools project, a number of issues are under active consideration by my Department and will inform my decision on the allocation of the funds available to me for PPP development. These include the type of PPP model to be used, the level of operation and service to be included in any new programme, how the projects should be bundled so as to provide the most cost effective procurement and the size and geographical spread of the bundles. My Department is also in the process of examining the market interest in the different types of PPP model that are under consideration for a future programme.

As I have previously indicated, in respect of further PPP school building projects, new schools on greenfield sites that have been prioritised using the criteria agreed with the education partners, and published by my Department, fit the PPP model best as distinct from projects that involve modernisation and upgrading of existing buildings.

I intend to announce my plans for a further PPP programme in the near future.