Eamon Ryan
Ceist:52 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Finance the arguments made by his Department to the EUROSTAT organisation defending greater use of public private partnerships in the provision of infrastructure here. [9753/03]
Written Answers - Public/Private Partnerships.
I refer the Deputy to the reply of 5 March 2003 which explained that EUROSTAT is an EU body, part of the EU Commission, and, as such, is independent of the member states. The CSO is the appropriate authority in Ireland and liaises with EUROSTAT about the interpretation of relevant instruments governing the impact on the general Government balance of different approaches to financing investment, including PPPs.
I have established a standing committee to advise Departments on the general Government balance implications of private sector-NDFA financed projects and generally to assist the CSO in its work on this matter. The committee consists of nominees from the Department of Finance, the Department of the Taoiseach, the National Development Finance Agency, the Central Statistics Office, the Department of Transport and the Department of Education and Science. An independent expert will also be appointed to the committee shortly.