Paschal Donohoe has defended the Government’s massive €200million splurge on PPE after frontline health experts said some of it is “not suitable for use".
But the Minister for Finance said that the Government is considering alternative suppliers, telling the Irish Mirror, “we are looking at all opportunities” to get more gowns, masks and other protective wear.
Meanwhile senior HSE official Professor Martin Cormican said that some of the latest deliveries are “not suitable for use”.
The national emergency has led to an urgent demand for the vital protections for our frontline health service workers, and the Government has done brilliantly to secure supplies.
Mr Donohoe was one of the decision makers that sanctioned €200million’s worth to be imported, where a normal year’s worth would be €15million.
Professor Mark Cormican is the HSE’s clinical lead on infection control.
He said that the supply chain is sound, but he has concerns that the quality of the equipment we have bought could be dodgy.
Mr Cormican said: “The first delivery arrived on Sunday night and we looked at each of the items that had been delivered.
“Some of it is suitable for use, some of it has limited use and some of it is not suitable for use.
“So it’s useful for us to have this new supply line.
“A good deal of the material that has come in will be useful to us, and that’s really important to say because it’s quite hard internationally to secure this.
“But the evaluation that we did indicates that some of the items that we received are not suitable and we’ll have to work with the suppliers and make sure that what we are getting those items that we consider don’t meet our standards, that we don’t want to receive more of those items.
“But the items that are useful to us, that we need to keep, we want to keep that supply line open.”
Mr Donohoe was asked about the potential waste of taxpayer funds by the Mirror.
He said: “The Government is taking the issue of how we procure our protective equipment for our nurses, for our doctors and for all of those who are giving care at this time in our community with the utmost priority.
“But as we are doing this work, we are doing it in a world in which this equipment is being sought by nearly every other country in the world and the ensuing purchase of this equipment has become exceptionally competitive.
“It is the case that the protective equipment that has now been brought into Ireland for some of our healthcare workers will be different to the protective equipment that they have become used to.”
Mr Donohoe added: “We are continuing to look at all opportunities to acquire new protective equipment.”
