Infrastructure
| Sector | Infrastructure |
| Sub-sector | Education |
| Location | EMEA |
The Irish government’s Project Ireland 2040 plan details ambitions to improve the quality of life for its people by investing in comprehensive social, economic, and cultural infrastructure across the country1. A key pillar of the plan includes new investment to address education infrastructure deficits and accommodate the projected 20 per cent increase in Ireland’s higher education student population between 2023 and 2029.
Including PPPs, Project Ireland 2040 will see higher education investment more than triple from €800 million to €2.8 billion over the life of the plan. The first of these investments, the Higher Education PPP Bundle 1, focuses on STEM, ICT, engineering and life sciences at institutes of technology and technological university campus locations around Ireland.2
Macquarie Capital assembled a leading consortium which was selected as preferred bidder to deliver the €250 million project, including the design, build, financing, operations and maintenance of six higher education facilities across Ireland over a 25-year concession period following construction.
The consortium consisted of JJ Rhatigan & Company as construction contractor and Sodexo Ireland Limited for facilities management. Our team of infrastructure capital specialists acted as sole equity sponsor and exclusive financial advisor to the consortium and selected an experienced banking group consisting of three international and two Irish lenders including AIB, Bank of Ireland, Nord/LB, Korea Development Bank and Norinchukin Bank.
Outcome
Once operational, the buildings will create more than 38,000 m2 of additional building space and also provide over 5,000 student places at campuses across the eastern, southern and midlands regions of Ireland.
All facilities will be designed to focus on practice-based learning, providing laboratories, workshops and studios for students to learn. They will also be set up with flexibility to adapt to changing teaching and learning needs and to support the increasing need for hybrid and remote learning.
The construction of these buildings on multiple campuses across the country will improve the educational experience for current and future generations of students. It also represents an important milestone in the government’s Higher Education PPP programme and illustrates a commitment to investment in the higher education sector.”
Simon Harris
Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science
New state of the art higher education buildings
Of additional building space
Students will be catered for
Largest education PPP in Ireland
Learn more
