PPE and ventilator losses
Deputy Kenny challenges the scale of PPE write-offs and the cost of ventilators that were paid for but never received. Minister Donnelly says a full audit has been completed, is being reviewed, and recovery of money from the Chinese supplier is under way.
A number of weeks ago, the Comptroller and Auditor General briefed the Committee of Public Accounts on the amount the State has spent on personal protective equipment, PPE, over the last 18 months. That spend has amounted to more than €1 billion so far. The Comptroller and Auditor General stated that the HSE has written off €375 million worth of PPE thus far. This is an eye-watering figure but it gets worse. This figure includes more than 1,800 ventilators, ordered at a cost of €81 million, which were never received. These were paid for but never received. We all understand there was a clamour for these products internationally and that we had to move very quickly but this is public money, that is, taxpayers' money. Will the Minister launch an investigation into the squandering of all of this public money?
Comment on this
I thank the Deputy for the question. Last year, when I came into office, I requested that the board of the HSE conduct a full audit into the PPE that had been purchased because a huge amount of public money was spent at very short notice in extremely difficult circumstances. That audit has been completed and is being considered by the HSE with a view to ensuring best practice. With regard to the ventilators, the HSE is looking to recover moneys from a company based in China. I am sure the Deputy will be aware of this. There has been public commentary on it. I both agree and disagree with the Deputy. I agree wholeheartedly on the need for best practice and very clear lines of responsibility with regard to all procurement right across the healthcare system. It is a vast budget and every euro that is spent has to be spent in the right way. However, I will sound a note of caution. When we look back at the procurement as Covid was arriving here, the Deputy and I were in the same room, as were many others, when we were being briefed by the Chief Medical Officer and others. We all demanded and insisted that anything that had to be done would be done, that we would not run out of PPE and that we would not run out of ventilators. The HSE did what we asked it to do. I urge us all to remember that we in the Oireachtas demanded immediate action from the HSE. It took that action.