Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 September 2012
526. Deputy Patrick Nulty asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if there will be a stipulation insisting that only builders and developers who have fully discharged their responsibilities with regard to previous developments be eligible to tender for stimulus funding in the construction sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37937/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn July of this year, I announced the Government’s €2.25 billion Infrastructure Stimulus Package which will provide investment in a range of important and much-needed new projects. The stimulus package is additional to the investment outlined in the Exchequer Capital Framework, which was published last November, and will be largely predicated on using non-Exchequer sources of funding to support the first phase of a new PPP Programme of projects in key areas of infrastructure. As the Deputy is aware, public capital infrastructure projects are procured either as Exchequer-funded projects or as Public Private Partnerships. PPPs are arrangements between the public and private sectors (consistent with a broad range of possible partnership structures) with clear agreement on shared objectives for the delivery of public infrastructure and/or public services by the private sector that would otherwise have been provided through traditional public sector procurement. The procurement of infrastructure projects via PPP involves a tendering process whereby consortia are invited to bid, in most instances, to Design, Build, Finance, Maintain and Operate a particular piece of public infrastructure. The consortium must be in a position to secure private debt financing and private equity to support its bid. The consortium is subject to an extensive financial due diligence process by the private funding providers prior to loan approval.
The National Development Finance Agency, which is the State's centre of expertise for PPPs, is responsible for the procurement of all PPPs except those in the transport sector. The National Roads Authority is responsible for roads procurement and the Railway Procurement Agency is responsible for rail PPPs. Tender competitions for the new PPP programme will continue to be conducted in line with national and EU public procurement procedures. It is important to note that Article 45 of Council Directive 2004/18/EC (as implemented in Ireland by Regulation 53 of the Procurement Regulations) provides for situations where a person can be excluded from participation in a public contract. Specifically, a public authority may exclude from consideration a person who: is subject to a bankruptcy or insolvency procedure or process; has been found guilty of professional misconduct; has breached tax or social security laws and regulations; or has provided misleading information to the authority. My Department sets the overall procurement policy for public bodies; however, it is a matter for each sponsoring authority, in conjunction with the procuring authority, to set, within the confines of that policy, the eligibility conditions of each tender process.
