Vol. 505 No. 1
111 Mr. Yates asked the Minister for Public Enterprise the decision, if any, the Government has taken in relation to the proceeds of the initial public offering for Telecom Éireann; and if she will commit resources to direct additional Exchequer capital investment into public transport in 1999. [12547/99]
The proceeds from the Telecom Éireann IPO will accrue to the Exchequer. They will be treated as a normal Exchequer receipt and will therefore not be earmarked for any particular purpose.
I recognise that there will be a very substantial medium term investment requirement for public transport. Funding for this investment will obviously have to come from a number of sources.
I expect that a very substantial proportion of the investment requirement will be generated from CIE's own internal resources. Earlier this year the CIE chairman indicated that in certain circumstances CIE would be able to provide up to £700 million from its own resources, including property, in the eight year period up to 2006 to fund investment. While the level of EU funding will diminish over the coming years, I will be arguing for the maximum possible EU contribution for public transport projects.
There may also be scope for some private funding through public-private partnerships. I have already published a consultancy paper on a PPP approach to Luas and have invited comments on it before I put proposals to Government. It is also clear that there will be a need for a significant Exchequer contribution to fund this investment requirement.
The overall funding provision for public transport, and the sources of that funding, will be decided by Government during its consideration of the national development plan.
There is already a very substantial public transport investment programme under way in 1999, accelerated by the timely reallocation of the Luas EU aid last June. The Exchequer is providing £56 million in capital grants this year, including for the first time Exchequer assistance for bus and rail investment totalling £36 million.
