Minister for Finance Brian Cowen rejected a demand by Paul McGrath (FG, Westmeath) that the cost-benefit analyses of major State projects be published.
Mr Cowen said that a full cost-benefit analysis was required to be carried out by public sector agencies for all major projects over €30 million. As a general rule, such analyses were not published.
"They contain commercially-sensitive information, the publication of which could be prejudicial to the State's capacity to get best value for money in the procurement of capital projects; for example, they include the estimates of the capital and operating costs of projects."
He said that it would not be in the interests of getting best value for money to share this information with potential tenderers in advance of procurement.
However, a number of checks were in place as part of the Government's value-for-money framework to ensure reporting on, and scrutiny of, the appraisals undertaken by departments and agencies for capital projects without compromising the confidentiality of commercially-sensitive information.
Mr McGrath said it was unfortunate that Mr Cowen would not allow the analyses to be published. "Is it not important, from a public perspective point of view and for public confidence, that the department is spending money wisely?"
He urged Mr Cowen to examine the situation in New Zealand.
"In New Zealand all these information documents are published and they are even available on the worldwide web. One can see the cost-benefit analyses for all the projects. It does not seem to cause damage in New Zealand and does not appear to cause a problem cited by the Minister with regard to commercial information being seen by the opposition."
