Vol. 568 No. 2
166 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for Education and Science the position on the proposed extension to Clongeen national school, County Wexford; if approval will be given to have this project included under the public private partnership arrangements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16150/03]
The proposed large scale building project for Clongeen school is listed in section 6 of the 2003 school building programme, which I published on my Department's website at www.education.ie. This proposed project is at an advanced stage of architectural planning and has been assigned a "band 2" rating by my Department in accordance with the published criteria for prioritising large-scale projects. Projects listed in sections 6 and 7 – primary – are not being authorised to progress beyond their current stage of architectural planning for the time being.
The time at which projects listed in these sections are permitted to progress to tender and construction will depend on the budgetary allocation for 2004 and subsequent years and the priority afforded to each project by reference to the band rating.
The position on public private partnerships, PPPs, is that under EU rules, where projects are financed on a deferred payment basis by the private sector, such as PPPs, the capital value of such projects is a charge on the general Government balance, GGB, over the construction phase. The GGB is the critical measure of what can be accommodated within our obligations under the stability and growth pact of the Maastricht treaty. A EUROSTAT group is currently reviewing the accounting rules on this issue as is a standing committee established by my colleague the Minister for Finance to advise on the GGB implications of private sector financed projects.
Consideration of any new PPP projects will also be based on an evaluation of the completed pilot PPP schools project together with a thorough assessment of affordability of the project in the context of the competing demands on the likely capital funding envelopes going forward and taking into account the issues surrounding the GGB.
