Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Question 1268: To ask the Minister for Transport if he will clarify the position in relation to a recent newspaper article which stated that his Department plans to build the metro north, metro west and the Lucan LUAS using PPP deals at a combined cost of €750 million; the amount of Exchequer funding to be provided for these projects; the amount to be provided to each project individually; the amount of private sector funding which it is envisaged will be used to develop each of these projects; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2832/07]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The information contained in the newspaper article referred to by the Deputy derives from the Department of Finance's PPP website. This website gives an indicative value for PPP projects and in relation to Metro North, Metro West and the Lucan Luas PPP projects, the indicative value for each project is €250 million plus. The indicative value is provided to give potential bidders an indication of the relative scale of PPP projects being undertaken across all sectors. All the website says is that the indicative value of each of these projects will be in excess of €250 million.

I am not in a position to release details of the costs for the proposed Luas and Metro lines because the details are commercially sensitive from the point of view of protecting public funds and getting best value for money.

In relation to the remainder of the Deputy's question, it is proposed that the Metro North, Metro West and Lucan Luas projects will be procured as public private partnerships (PPP) and that the cost of the construction and maintenance will be borne by the private consortium selected through a tendering procedure. The PPP consortia will be paid through annual Exchequer payments. The level of payment will be dependent on the consortium meeting service delivery standards set out in the PPP contract.

The cost of land acquisition for these projects, together with project development costs incurred by the Railway Procurement Agency prior to applying for the relevant Railway Orders, will be funded by the Exchequer. Some of the funding will also be provided through development levies and developer contributions.