Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 November 2023
49. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform the analysis that has been conducted on the impact of the increasing reliance on public private partnership and leasing contracts and the potential impact of public finances into the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52368/23]
View answerPublic Private Partnerships (PPPs) are partnerships between the public and private sectors for the purpose of delivering a project or service and are an internationally recognised model to design, build, finance, operate and maintain public infrastructure. Some of the advantages associated with PPPs are that they allow the public sector to avail of private sector expertise and innovation and the private partner assumes responsibility for a considerable portion of the risk. The contracts tend to be long term arrangements, typically spanning 25 years or more.
A senior-level Inter-Departmental / Agency Group was established to review Ireland's experience of Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) and to make recommendations on the future role of PPPs. The full report outlining the findings of the group was published on the ppp.gov.ie website in 2018. In essence, that report found that PPPs have proven to be a very useful element in facilitating the delivery of important public infrastructure projects.
As you know, a new Programme for Government was adopted on 27 June 2020, which included a commitment to accelerate the Mid-Term Review of the National Development Plan. As part of the preparations for the review, the recommendations of the Expert Group on PPPs, which informed the previous NDP, were re-visited and updated.
A summary of this updated PPP review was published in April 2021 as part of the NDP Phase 1 report. Broadly, the review found that the PPP policy framework continues to be robust, and that the current guidance for the use of PPPs (updated in 2019) remains fit for purpose with a track record of successful delivery – including examples of successful risk transfer to the private partner. Departments will continue to evaluate projects for suitability for PPP in line with the 2018 review, and value for money will remain the main driver for PPP.
In ensuring Departments obtain the best value for money from public capital investment, PPPs are subject to the same robust and rigorous project appraisal process as traditionally procured projects. It is essential that projects are judged on their merits and in cases where PPPs can be demonstrated to give better value for money than traditional procurement, it is appropriate that they should be selected on that basis.
The Deputy might be interested to know that I publish two sets of financial data on PPPs. The data can be accessed on the PPP website at www.ppp.gov.ie/ppp-projects. The first set of data provides an update on the existing Financial Commitments for PPPs, which contains detailed information in relation to all PPP projects for which contracts have been signed and which are operational.
In addition, I also publish the projected annualised breakdown of the expected future unitary payments for each year, by project, extending out to when each project will be handed back by the PPP Company to the Sponsoring Authority. Analysis of this data will show, for example, that expenditure commitments of approximately €330 million for PPP’s in 2024 will account for just 2.5% of the overall allocation of €13.1 billion.
In relation to leasing contracts, that is a matter for each sector to assess and to manage within their overall allocations. Public Bodies must adhere to DPER Circular 17/2016, which details the 'Policy for Property Acquisition (including leases and lease renewals) and for Disposal of Surplus Property'. The Deputy would need to ask Departments directly concerning their use of such contracts.
