Public Private Partnerships

Under Ireland’s National Development Plan 2018-2027, Public Private Partnerships will continue to play a vital and integral role in public infrastructure investment. 

What are Public Private Partnerships?

Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) are partnerships between the public and private sectors for the purpose of delivering a project or service traditionally provided by the public sector. PPP agreements are typically long-term in nature (commonly 25 years or more years) and can take several legal and contractual forms.  In Ireland, PPPs are commonly created for the following project types:

• Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Maintain (DBFOM) – A project delivery mechanism commonly used by Governments for the construction of public infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges and airports.  Under such a structure, the government entity enters into an agreement with a private sector party under which it allocates to that party all of the project’s duties.  This includes designing, constructing, financing, operating and maintaining the project.  DBFOM projects have the benefit of shifting a greater proportion of risks (revenue and finance) to the private partner.
• Design-Build-Finance-Maintain (DBFM) – Under this structure the private sector designs, builds and finances assets and provides hard facility management or maintenance services under a long-term agreement.
• Concessions – A private sector ‘concessionaire’ invests in and operates a facility for a fixed duration, after which ownership reverts back to the public sector.

What is the National Development Plan (NDP)?

In 2018, the Irish government published the National Development Plan (NDP), which included €116 billion in capital investment.  Core to the NDP is the use of PPPs to encourage foreign direct investment for high-value infrastructure projects such as:

• Bus Connects for Ireland’s cities.
• Dart Expansion Programme.
• Metro Link.
• New parallel runway for Dublin Airport.
• Regional Airports Programme.
• Investment at Dublin Port, the Port of Cork and Shannon Foynes Port.
• Galway Ring Road.
• M20 Cork to Limerick.
• N4 Collooney to Castlebaldwin.
• N8 Dunkettle.
• N5 Westport to Turlough.
• N22 Ballyvourney to Macroom.
• A5 Road Development.

Investment will also be encouraged for transitioning to a low carbon economy, environmental sustainability, social housing, education and healthcare, rural regeneration, broadband, and Enterprise, Innovation and Skills to boost the economy.  The NDP also provides for sports, culture and heritage investment.

Why Choose Lavelle Partners?

• Our property department, led by Head of Property, Nicola Walsh has a wealth of practical knowledge and experience in relation to PPPs in Ireland.  We are business people at heart and will work tirelessly to ensure your business interests are represented and goals achieved.
• Our team has many years of experience in providing PPP legal advice for some of Ireland’s largest construction firms, developers and public entities.
• We are personally invested in our clients’ success.  As such, we help you tackle problems and capitalise on opportunities swiftly.  If a conventional solution does not achieve your objectives, we will challenge it, disrupting conventional ways of thinking to create a result that works for you.
• When it comes to making decisions, our experience and knowledge give us the confidence to make decisions quickly, a crucial factor in PPP projects.

For further information on how we can help you with Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) in Ireland, please contact Lavelle Partners in confidence on (01) 644 5800.