Vol. 484 No. 2
116 Mrs. Owen asked the Minister for Finance his views on public facilities being provided by private money, for example, hospitals or prisons; and if he will confirm that it has been the consistent advice of his Department that it is more economic for the State to raise moneys to build these public facilities. [21739/97]
The Programme for Government, An Action Programme for the Millennium, contains a commitment that the Government would invite the private sector to design and build new prisons which would be leased and managed by the proposed new prison authority. I understand that the Department of Justice will shortly be inviting tenders for the procurement of a new prison in Portlaoise on a "design, build and finance" basis.
Since the State can borrow capital at lower interest rates than the private sector, funding costs tend to be lower when the State undertakes the financing of such projects directly. When considering the possibility of private sector involvement in the construction of such facilities other factors also need to be taken into account. These include the level of expertise in the private sector, the possible speed with which projects can be designed by specialised firms and how quickly the project can be constructed on a design, build and finance basis by the private sector. The Government takes decisions on the basis of the totality of these considerations.
