Vol. 550 No. 4
58 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will make a statement on the use of public private partnerships in the provision of school and college facilities; and his views on the main advantages and disadvantages of this approach. [9190/02]
I am pleased that my Department is participating in the Government's programme on public private partnerships, PPPs, and specifically in the pilot programme of infrastructure projects.
I believe that PPPs have significant potential in relation to developing new ideas on design which arise from the output-based approach; testing value for money over the life-cycle of the projects rather than just construction; making better use of educational facilities outside of school hours; allowing educationalists to concentrate on their core functions; optimising the allocation of risk in areas such as planning, design, construction, maintenance and operation of education facilities.
I signed the first PPP contract in November last for five new post-primary schools and all are progressing on site. The advantage of participating in the pilot programme is that my Department can test the process under these criteria. The feedback to date from the education institutions included in the programme has been extremely positive but we need to see the completion of the construction phase of the projects, and the commencement of the operation phase, to get a fuller picture.
