The development of Public Private Partnerships should be radically accelerated, starting with the prioritisation of the widening of the M50 and the upgrading of its interchanges, the Chamber has told the Government and the NRA.

While the last two months have seen both the signing off of the PPP contracts for the Kilcock-Kilbeggan motorway and the launch of the PPP National Communication Strategy, progress remains frustratingly slow in developing the projects identified as possible candidates for development as PPPs.  

The contracts for the building of the 39km Kilcock-Kilbeggan motorway were signed off at end-March. The State is set to pay EUR170 million, or 65% of the project's construction costs, with the other EUR150 million being provided by the Eurolink, a consortium of Irish company SIAC and Spainish company Cintra Concesiones. The second west-link bridge, another PPP project, is due to open in July.  

In early April Charlie McCreevy launched the Public Private Partnership National Communication Strategy, with the aim of improving the profile of PPPs as a mechanism to promote innovation in the supply of infrastructure

In spite of these developments, many of the foreign firms who have set up operations in Ireland in the expectation of winning some of the PPP business have expressed concern at the painfully slow roll-out of the projects. 

According to Declan Martin, the Chamber's Director of Policy, "The project to widen the M50 and upgrade its major interchanges is a symbolic PPP project that will have a big impact on congestion. Yet it is already well behind schedule. We are calling on the NRA to prioritise this project and for the Government to ensure that the development rate of it and other PPP transport projects is accelerated."