Eoin Reeves

Public—Private Partnerships in Ireland: Policy and Practice

Irelands National Development Plan 2000–2006 includes a significant programme of public—private partnerships (PPPs). The Irish Governments policy on PPPs has been shaped to ensure that capital investments under PPP are not included when calculating key fiscal aggregates. This article traces the origins of Irelands PPP programme and outlines the extent of PPP activity to date. It details how the PPP programme has failed to make an impact in terms of addressing Irelands infrastructure deficit and examines three particular cases where the PPP model has been applied.

An economic analysis of Ireland's first public private partnership

In 1999, the Irish Government launched a programme of public private partnerships (PPPs). The programme has expanded rapidly as policy makers seek to address the countrys acute deficit of physical infrastructure. The first PPP to reach the stage of operation is the contract for five secondary schools. The early evidence from this case demonstrates that the market for education projects is competitive. The contract was designed on the basis of securing an appropriate distribution of risk and limiting private sector rents from re‐financing. However, the evidence indicates that this PPP has not resulted in significant innovations and the public sector has failed to provide any evidence of value for money.

Piloting Public-Private Partnerships: Expensive Lessons from Ireland's Schools' Sector

In 1999 the Irish government launched a programme of public-private partnerships (PPPs) for the purpose of achieving better value for money in public procurement. This article analyses the procurement of the contract for five secondary schools, which was the first Irish PPP to reach the stage of operation. It highlights a number of problems with the procurement process, which are likely to result in a failure to achieve value for money. By exploring these problems in detail, the authors provide lessons for countries adopting PPPs.

The Not So Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Over Twelve Years of PPP in Ireland

Public–private partnerships have been adopted extensively in Ireland for over 12 years. This article analyses the practice of PPP procurement at the level of local government. It adopts economic and governance perspectives on PPP which highlight challenges with procurement under PPP such as complexity, uncertainty, hold-up, transparency and accountability. These perspectives provide a basis for an analysis of three cases of PPP procurement. Two cases from the water services sector illuminate problems arising from the complexity of value for money assessment at the ex ante contracting stage. These cases were also characterised by governance problems stemming from central governments role as policy advocate and steward of public funds. The case of PPP to deliver social housing also demonstrated the challenges of procurement under conditions of economic uncertainty and difficulties with achieving appropriate levels of risk transfer. All three cases demonstrate the value of stakeholder consultation in terms of meeting the governance challenges faced when adopting PPP.

Can employee share‐ownership improve employee attitudes and behaviour?

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to examine the outcomes of a substantial broad‐based employee share‐ownership scheme for employee attitudes and behaviour in a privatised firm.Design/methodology/approach – Results are based on a survey of 711 employees in Eircom, an Irish telecommunications firm, which is 35 percent employee‐owned.Findings – The ESOP has created sizable financial returns and has had extensive influence in firm governance at the strategic level. However, findings show only a limited impact on employee attitudes and behaviour. This is attributed to a failure in creating a sense of employee participation and line of sight between employee performance and reward.Practical implications – The aim of employee share‐ownership often includes aligning employee objectives with those of other shareholders, and thus improving labour performance. The findings in this study highlight a need to provide employees with a sense of ownership and control. Findings also question the assumption that whe...

PPP Procurement in Ireland: An Analysis of Tendering Periods

Abstract The relative complexity of procurement under public–private partnership (PPP) means that tendering periods can be longer compared to traditional procurement models. Reducing the tendering period is therefore an important challenge if PPP is to deliver infrastructure on time and within budget. Using data from 59 PPP projects in Ireland we find that the average tendering period has been 34 months. Analysis using duration analysis shows that tendering periods have fallen over time and are positively but not strongly associated with the capital value of projects. Tendering periods are longer for projects that do not involve private finance with the majority of such projects procured by local authorities. We use two case studies of PPP procurement to explore these issues further. Both cases highlight the complex array of factors that can impact on tendering periods some of which are outside the control of the procurement authority.

Public Private Partnerships in the Irish Roads Sector: an Economic Analysis

Rapid economic growth in recent years has imposed enormous pressures on the capacity of the Irish economy and brought the critical requirement for upgrading Ireland’s physical infrastructure to the forefront. As a response, the National Development Plan (NDP) 2000-2006, planned for an overall investment of 52 billion euros in the Irish economy with 22.4 billion euros marked specifically earmarked for economic and social infrastructure. One of the prominent features of Ireland’s NDP is the promotion of public partnerships (PPPs). In the run-up to the publication of the NDP, the Irish government, in conjunction with business groups, actively promoted the use of PPPs as a vehicle for providing large-scale infrastructural investment. As a consequence, 2.34 billion euros of investment using the NDP was earmarked for procurement using the PPP model. The biggest element of both overall and PPP-specific investment within the economic and social infrastructure operational program (ESIOP) of the NDP is in the roads sector. This chapter details the planned contribution of the PPP model to Ireland’s road investment program under the NDP. More specifically, it examines the experience with the PPP model in the roads sector in terms of the economic theories of relevance to the PPP model of procurement and explicit government objectives.

A benchmark analysis of the performance of state owned enterprises in ireland

This paper examines the performance of state owned enterprises (SOEs) in Ireland over the period 1988-92. However, unlike previous studies the performance of Irish public enterprise is examined in terms of the performance of other firms operating in the same sectors albeit based in the UK. While Irish SOEs exhibit lower rates of return on capital employed, it is found that there were significant improvements in labour productivity, relative to UK counterparts. This is attributable to the substantial increase in capital utilisation by Irish public enterprises. Given that average employment was maintained the net effect is a substantial increase in the capital-labour ratio of the sector.

Privatization, Employee Share Ownership and Governance: The Case of Eircom

Sizeable employee share ownership plans (ESOPs) have been a unique feature of Irelands privatization programme. Since the sale in 1999 of the national telecommunications operator, Eircom, the norm has been to allocate 14.9 per cent of equity to employees. We examine the role of the Eircom ESOP in the post‐privatization governance of the company. We find that the ESOP sought to maximize returns to employees as shareholders rather than behave in the interests of a wider set of stakeholders. This is explained in terms of the internal governance of the ESOP, namely its structure and rules, as well as the composition and motivations of the board of the ESOP Trustee.

A Review of the PPP Experience in Ireland: Lessons for Comparative Policy Analysis

Abstract This paper examines the motivations for and performance of public–private partnerships in Ireland. PPPs were first used in the early 2000s in response to the urgent infrastructural needs of the rapidly growing Irish economy. Since the global financial crisis, the use of PPPs has been driven by the desire to deliver economic stimulus by means of off-balance-sheet financing. PPPs have made an appreciable contribution to public investment in Ireland. However, there is a scarcity of data on the performance of PPP in terms of delivering value for money (VFM). This paper questions the reliability of official data that generally indicates PPP has succeeded in delivering superior VFM compared to traditional procurement methods.