The Investment Strategy for Northern Ireland 2008-2018 (OFMDFM 2008) identifies some £20 billion of new investment in the 10 years from 2008 but provides no information on what role PPP will play in delivering this. Indeed, the terms 'public private partnership' and 'PPP' do not appear in the document. It is unclear whether this omission is the result of political management - that is, a desire to obfuscate the true scale of PPP plans, or whether the current Executive is genuinely unsure what the future holds for private finance in NI. What is clear is that there are a number of projects which, by virtue of their large capital investment requirements and long-term nature, are on current guidance (HM Treasury 2003) likely to proceed as PPPs. These include:
• A rapid transit system for the Greater Belfast area. The ISNI states: "The potential to lever in private sector funding will be an important ingredient"
• Significant investment in NI's motorway/dual-carriageway network (part of the Trans-European Network) and upgrades to selected link corridors and trunk roads
• A new Belfast Central Library open by 2015
• Delivery of up to 10,000 new social homes
• Significant increased investment in waste and waste management facilities, in a bid to meet EU targets on water quality and landfill.