Paul McGrath
Question:227 Mr. P. McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Science his plans to build other school projects under the public private partnership scheme additional to those already under construction or completed. [25538/02]
Written Answers. - Public Private Partnerships.
No new additional school PPP projects have been added to the PPP pilot programme. However, I am actively identifying other possible education PPP projects.
Paul McGrath
Question:228 Mr. P. McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will consider proposals from parents groups to construct new schools under a public private partnership scheme in which those parents would be the investors; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25539/02]
PPPs are essentially a partnership between public sector organisations and private sector investors and businesses for the purpose of designing, planning, financing, constructing and/or operating infrastructure projects normally provided through traditional procurement mechanisms by the State for periods of around 25 years.
As with traditional procurement, PPPs are subject to EU procurement legislation. Therefore, any project over the procurement threshold must be advertised in the Official Journal of the European Union and the operator of the proposed PPP will then be selected on the basis of a competitive tendering procedure. In the case of the first schools pilot project, five schools were bundled together to form one contract to make the project economically viable.
Therefore, the PPP process of procurement is not a suitable mechanism for the provision of school accommodation in the circumstances outlined by the Deputy.
Paul McGrath
Question:229 Mr. P. McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Science the financial arrangement entered into by his Department in relation to the new second level school recently constructed at Tubbercurry, County Sligo under the public private partnership scheme; the annual cost of this project; the duration of those payments; the estimated cost to his Department of building this school to the same standard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25540/02]
The contract for the provision of a bundle of five post-primary schools, including St. Attracta's Community School, Tubbercurry, under the first education public private partnership project was signed in November 2001 with Jarvis Projects Limited. This pilot project was developed on a design, build, finance and operate basis. While the maintenance and operation of the buildings is a matter for Jarvis for the duration of the service contract, in this case 25 years, the management of the schools and their day to day running will remain with the school management authorities. The State will retain legal ownership of all properties.
The construction cost of providing the five schools is €60.66 million, excluding furniture, fittings and equipment. Comparison of build costs is not a valid measurement when comparing PPP with traditional procurement, bearing in mind that the PPP contract includes the maintenance and operation of the school for the duration of the 25 year contract and PPP schools are designed and constructed specifically to meet this output.
The annual cost of the project is €10.122 million per year for the first three years of operation. The cost from the fourth year onwards is €9.716 million. Under the terms of the project agreement, the European Investment Bank may refinance 50% of the senior debt two years into the operational phase of the project. This would further reduce the annual cost of the project.