Michael Noonan
Question:4 Mr. Noonan asked the Minister for Finance if his Department sanctioned any public-private partnership schemes; if not, the reason for the delay; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22523/99]
Priority Questions. - Public-Private Partnerships.
On 1 June last I announced a list of public-private partnership projects which had been agreed by the Government to pilot the public-private partnership approach in Ireland. The pilot projects are concentrated in the economic infrastructure sector, including transport and environmental services. The projects selected, subject to statutory procedures and negotiations where appropriate, include a new western river crossing in Limerick on the N7; the Waterford by-pass, including a new bridge over the River Suir, on the N25; the second west link bridge on the M50; and key elements of the Dublin light rail, Luas, project.
In addition, it is intended to actively explore the potential for a PPP to develop the Kilkock-Kinnegad section of the N4. The Government also agreed to include projects in education, the solid waste management area and water supply in the pilot programme. The specific projects were to be named following further consultations.
Since then, my colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Martin, has announced a pilot education project, namely, the Cork School of Music. Details of the other pilot projects will be made public as soon as possible.
I can assure the Deputies that my Department is taking a constructive and positive approach to identifying the role that PPPs can play in facilitating the development of infrastructure and finding effective means of putting them in place as quickly as possible. It is my intention to ensure that, where appropriate, the use of the PPP process should be maximised with a view to achieving long-term value for money for the public sector.
Public-private partnerships will also be an important element in the National Development Plan, 2000-06, in helping to address infrastructural investment needs.
The Departments directly responsible for the programme areas, in co-operation with the Department of Finance, have already started to develop the selected projects in detail and will continue to do so over the coming months, with particular reference to the potential for private sector finance. The aim is to seek tenders or other proposals from the private sector as quickly as possible. All the projects will, in any case, have to go through the appropriate public procurement procedures, in accordance with domestic and EU law.
Is the Minister aware of the widespread concern among private contractors who have expressed an interest in public-private partnerships and who have submitted proposals to the Department of Finance, that the Minister and his Department are not really sincere about the concept of public-private partnerships, that no progress has been made on the bulk of the applications and that there is a widespread belief, based on comments by senior public servants, that the Government and Departments believe they could carry out the work more cheaply themselves, as they could borrow money at a cheaper rate on the open market? Will he categorically state that the Government is sincere about this and will proceed with it? Will he examine the progress of submissions made to date because nothing is happening, regardless of what his briefing note says?
I assure the Deputy that nothing could be further from the truth, in terms of what is happening in the Department of Finance. It is not true that the private sector has given indications of the type he said. On the contrary, IBEC, including the CIF, recently stated publicly, and privately in meetings with officials, that it is very satisfied with the progress being made on the development of public-private partnerships.
Since I was appointed Minister for Finance I have spent a great deal of time trying to ensure that the Department of Finance is not blamed for holding up any of these projects. A clear indication has gone out from my Department to the line Departments that every possible project that can be dealt with on a PPP basis should be assessed on those lines. The line Departments assess these projects in the first instance. The Department of Finance's job is to liaise and drive PPP projects in the line Departments. I have ensured that my officials have driven the process of PPP and encouraged line Departments in this regard. The private sector organisations have publicly expressed their satisfaction with what we are doing.
I accept there is possibly a reluctance in some line Departments to go further down the road of PPP. However, I refute categorically the imputations that appeared in some media organs over the past year that the Department of Finance is holding up projects. Whatever happened in the Department of Finance previous to my tenure is no longer the case. We have gone out of our way to ensure the line Departments do everything in their power to encourage the PPP process. I take this opportunity to emphasise that it is a key part of my policy to ensure that the PPP process goes ahead in every possible area as quickly as possible.
I put it to the Minister that certain line Departments are actively frustrating projects which were put to them by the private sector. I think the Minister is aware of that. I put it to him also that although the hold-ups are not in his Department, he has primary responsibility for ensuring that Government policy in this area is implemented. What formal procedures does he have in place to ensure that proposals are actively dealt with in line Departments, so that the private sector investment which the economy so needs is not frustrated by persons who take it upon themselves to operate a policy other than the one stated by the Government?
If Deputy Noonan has instances of particular projects which have been held up, he can tell me about them privately and I will ensure that my Department pushes those particular line Departments even harder. I accept there may be officials in some line Departments who have not yet fully bought into the idea of public-private partnerships. My Department is driving this process. We have an overall co-ordinating role and have set up PPP units in the relevant line Departments. Meetings are held quite regularly with the line Departments. There is an advisory group involving the public and private sectors. Everything humanly possible has been done by the officials of the Department of Finance to drive this process.
We must move to the next question.
If the Deputy gives me some instances of hold-ups – there may be some of which I am unaware – I will ensure they are rectified.
May I ask a supplementary question?
Time has run out. We must proceed to Question No. 5.