Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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20. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform further to Parliamentary Question No. 11 of 2 March 2017, the details of the review into the role of public private partnerships and their role in infrastructure funding; his views regarding the costs incurred each year by the State by public private partnerships; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18713/17]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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PPPs offer an alternative model for delivering infrastructure, that can facilitate the delivery of additional capital projects and that can be effective in particular circumstances. However, the long-term nature of the financial commitments arising under PPPs require that the use of such arrangements must be carefully planned in order to ensure that they are used to address infrastructural needs in a manner that is sustainable in the long term and which the public finances can afford.

Against this background, Government needs to formulate a strategic view on the extent to which PPPs can play a useful role in delivering additional infrastructure, to complement that provided directly with Exchequer funding, without placing an unsustainable burden that severely constrains future capital budgets.

The Mid-Term review of the Capital Plan presents an opportunity to assess the extent to which PPPs can play a role in mobilising and applying additional resources to support Ireland's medium-term growth potential. With this in mind, I have asked my Department to consider the scope for further use of PPPs to complement the direct provision of infrastructure using Exchequer funding, on a basis that is sustainable and affordable in the long term.

A senior level group has been established, comprising relevant officials from the Departments with experience of procuring projects by PPP, together with the Department of Finance, the National Development Finance Agency and Transport Infrastructure Ireland, to review past experience of PPPs and to provide an evidence based analysis of the potential for further use of PPPs (and concessions) as a procurement option for the delivery of additional capital infrastructure. Assessing the affordability, sustainability and value-for-money of PPP procurement will be key elements of the Group's work.

As far as the existing programme of PPP projects are concerned, the decision to procure as a PPP in each case was taken on the basis of a detailed assessment of value for money (VFM) as compared to the cost of traditional procurement carried out by the relevant public body on the basis of the detailed framework put in place and maintained by my Department. Full details and key documents of this VFM framework can be found at .