Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 November 2021
434. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if the annual cost of infrastructure projects under the higher education public private partnership are paid directly from the Exchequer or from the core funding of the institution involved in the project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55558/21]
View answerThere are three higher education projects that have been delivered to date, by way of Public Private Partnership (PPP) contract. The National Maritime College of Ireland and Cork School of Music, which are part of Munster Technological University, are now well over half way through the PPP contract period.
The most recently delivered PPP project is the East and Central Quads at Grangegorman, which has provided state of the art facilities for the TU Dublin Colleges of Sciences and Health, Arts and Tourism and for the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
Once a PPP contract has been signed, the cost information is published by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform on www.ppp.gov.ie. These costs include the cost of design, construction and finance, as well as the cost of operating, maintaining and conducting life-cycle works to the buildings over the 25 year operational period of the contract.
As is the case with all higher education PPP projects, the costs are reimbursed by the Department to the PPP Company, as part of the annual Unitary Charge payments. These payments commence once construction has been completed and continue over the 25 year period.
The annual Unitary Charge payments for the Grangegorman PPP Project are co-funded by TU Dublin through its own sources, including via efficiency savings generated by the consolidation of its activities at Grangegorman.
