Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 May 2005
396 Ms Enright asked the Minister for Education and Science her views on the use of public private partnerships for the provision of school accommodation; if she approved the use of this model for her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15286/05]
View answer421 Ms Enright asked the Minister for Education and Science when she intends to announce the list of schools which will proceed by way of public private partnership; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15274/05]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 396 and 421 together.
My colleague the Minister for Finance provided a capital envelope of €555 million in respect of education PPPs for the period 2005 to 2009 and I am examining how this may be best utilised. This examination covers both schools and the third level sector.
A key rationale underpinning the decision to proceed with the initial bundle of five schools was to test the PPP approach in the case of schools, to learn from the experience and thereby to inform future usage of a PPP approach to procuring schools.
Based on the experience to date from the use of the PPP process for the National Maritime College and schools projects, a number of issues are under active consideration by my Department and will inform my decision on the allocation of the funds available to me for PPP development. These include the type of PPP model to be used, the level of operation and service to be included in any new programme, how the projects should be bundled so as to provide the most cost effective procurement and the size and geographical spread of the bundles.
In respect of school building projects, new schools on greenfield sites that have been prioritised using the criteria agreed with the education partners, and published by my Department, fit the PPP model best as distinct from projects that involve modernisation of existing buildings. I intend to announce my plans for a further PPP programme in the near future.
