Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 June 2014
291. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the projects under public private partnership that have gone to tender or commenced construction under the Government stimulus plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25568/14]
View answerIn July 2012 I announced a €2.25 billion stimulus plan that included the launch of the first phase of a new PPP programme. The PPPs are being delivered by a range of Government Departments and Agencies across the roads, education, healthcare and justice areas, working in conjunction with the National Development Finance Agency. The largest PPP in the July 2012 Stimulus announcement was the N17/N18 Gort to Tuam road and I am pleased to report that the contracts on this project were signed in April this year and construction of the project is now underway. In addition, seven of the announced projects have issued to market and the procurement process is in progress. These are:
- Schools Bundle 4
- Schools Bundle 5
- Grangegorman DIT - Central and East Quads
- Courts Bundle
- Primary Care Centres Bundle
- M11 Gorey Enniscorthy
- N25 New Ross Bypass
These projects are on course to reach financial close and commence construction later this year and in 2015. At the time of the 2012 announcement it was also envisaged that in the Justice area a bundle of three Garda divisional HQs would be progressed as a PPP. It has since been decided that these can be better delivered through traditional Exchequer investment and I understand that these will issue to market very shortly.
Finally the Deputy may recollect that the 2012 Stimulus announcement also signalled the reactivation of two existing PPP projects that had previously been stalled owing to the economic crisis and the difficulties in international financial markets. Both of these projects have progresses well since then. In the first of these the Schools Bundle 3 project contracts were signed in November 2012, construction is now practically complete, and all 8 schools facilities will be available for use this September. The second project involving a roads bundle comprising an N11 development and the upgrade of the N7 (Newlands Cross) junction saw contracts signed in April 2013; construction is progressing well, with the N7 element due for completion by end this year and the N11 element due for completion in Autumn 2015.
