Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 453 of 12 March 2013, if he will provide the full projected unitary cost of the Criminal Courts of Justice Complex between 2007 up to an including February 2035, including the projected budgeted 43% of the unitary charge subject to indexation based on the CPI each year, projected budgeted items paid for on a per usage basis and VAT. [15732/13]

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No: 453 of 12 March 2013, if he will provide a breakdown of the monthly €1.6 million unitary charge payment; the amount of the payment that is for design and construction of the Criminal Courts of Justice Complex, financing, insurance, ICT and the services provided by G4S. [15733/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 258 and 259 together.

As the Deputy is aware, under the provisions of the Courts Service Act 1998, management of the courts is the responsibility of the Courts Service which is independent in exercising its functions, including the provision and maintenance of accommodation for court sittings. As I informed the Deputy in my reply to Question No. 453 on 12 March, the contract between the Courts Service and the Public Private Partnership Company (PPPCo) provides for a single monthly unitary charge payment to cover the design, construction, financing and service provision in the Criminal Courts of Justice. The financial model underpinning the monthly unitary charge formed a central element of the extensive negotiations undertaken by the Service prior to entering into the contract with the PPPCo. I am further informed that this information is commercially sensitive and its release would have implications for the Courts Service's negotiating position for future public private partnership projects. As previously stated, the CCJ contract is between the Courts Service and the PPPCo and ongoing amounts paid by the PPPCo to its subcontractor G4S for the provision of services are part of their internal financial and contractual arrangements. The services provided by the PPPCo through its subcontractor G4S include security, cleaning, maintenance, facilities management, energy and utilities management, health and safety, helpdesk and portering.

Under the terms of the contract, the PPPCo has to provide the facilities and the services in the Criminal Courts of Justice to a required standard and in accordance with a performance regime as set out in the contract. Failure to meet these standards or failure to have all or part of the Criminal Courts of Justice available for use during the course of the contract period will result in financial penalties being incurred by the PPPCo. As the Criminal Courts of Justice will be handed over to the Courts Service in an "as built"’ condition in 2035, the contract provides that the PPPCo is responsible for the ongoing maintenance, including replacement costs for the fabric, contents and equipment in the Criminal Courts of Justice. In the 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General, the total expenditure to February 2035 was projected at €625.4 million. The current annual commitment for the Criminal Courts of Justice base unitary charge is €21.9 million (including VAT). In 2013, annual indexation provisions increased the unitary charge by approximately €200,000. In future years, any increases or decreases will depend on the CPI published by the Central Statistics Office on an annual basis. Therefore, it is not possible to predict this in advance. However, I understand the projected costs of the project mentioned above assumed an inflation rate of 2% over the period of the project.

The total amount paid on volume related items, such as jury minding and jury meals, will be based on the usage for these items over the lifetime of the contract. As a consequence, the Courts Service has informed me that it is not possible to predict in any meaningful manner expenditure to 2035 on such items. Expenditure will depend on unpredictable factors such as the number and length of jury trials. In addition, the Courts Service has indicated that it can discontinue the use of the PPPCo for the provision of such services once the contracted notice period is provided. Expenditure on volume related items in 2012 was €650,000, including VAT. As I mentioned in my reply of 12 March, there have ongoing operational savings for other criminal justice agencies, including the Irish Prison Service and An Garda Síochána resulting in more members of An Garda Síochána being released for front line duties, in addition to considerable savings on lease costs. Finally, as stated previously, this PPP contract was dealt with in detail by the Comptroller and Auditor General in his 2008 Annual Report and was also examined by the Committee of Public Accounts in July 2010.