Committee of Public Accounts to resume examination of HSE’s 2021 financial statements; examine C&AG’s special report on emergency procurement of ventilators by HSE

The meeting at 9.30am in Committee Room 3 of Leinster House will be joined by the Comptroller and Auditor General, Seamus McCarthy, and officials from the HSE, led by Bernard Gloster, CEO and Accountable Person to the Committee. Officials from the Department of Health and the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery & Reform will also be in attendance.

The Committee will also examine Appropriation Account 2021 Vote 38 (Health) - Subhead E.3 - The National Treatment Purchase Fund.

During the afternoon session, beginning at 1.30pm, the Committee will consider correspondence and other business of the Committee.

PAC Cathaoirleach Deputy Brian Stanley said: “This will be the Committee’s fourth engagement with the HSE on its 2021 financial statements and related matters following meetings in September and October 2022 and in February of this year. At these meetings, the Committee examined expenditure on mental health services, the National Ambulance Service and 2021 financial statements, and disability services, emergency care and waiting lists.

“The main area of interest for the Committee at this meeting is the C&AG’s special report on the emergency procurement of ventilators by the HSE during the initial outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. The HSE ordered almost 3,500 new ventilators at a total cost of €129million, more than 10 times the number the HSE’s clinical staff had estimated would be needed as part of its ‘surge capacity planning’.

“Advance payments totalling €81m were made by the HSE to new suppliers to secure orders for 2,198 ventilators. Subsequently, 1,731 of these orders were cancelled and the HSE received a number of refunds of advance payments, totalling just over €50m. While the HSE was pursuing refunds of a further €22m, some €8m is considered to be unrecoverable and represents a loss to the taxpayer.

“The C&AG published his report in March this year and in it he identified a number of serious issues around the HSE procurement process. This included the HSE’s assessment of need for ventilators, how the HSE identified and sourced new suppliers of ventilators, and the quality of the ventilators procured, given some were deemed not fit for purpose.

“Given the Committee’s role is to ensure public services are run efficiently and achieve value for money, Members are committed to examining the matters identified by the C&AG. While this special report focuses on a particular instance of how the HSE procured ventilators during the pandemic, it serves to highlight the greater lack of controls within the HSE’s procurement systems.

“The C&AG’s report shines a light on the timeline of events as they unfolded during the pandemic in March and April 2020. When this is taken in view with the HSE’s emergency expenditure on PPE which was previously examined by the Committee, it is clear that the HSE needs to enhance internal controls on procurement to prevent the same issues arising during another emergency situation.

“The Committee will focus on the decisions taken by the senior management within the HSE and not the heroic work that was undertaken by the frontline workers within the healthcare industry during the pandemic. Members look forward to a detailed examination of this report, the financial statements and related matters with Mr Gloster and his colleagues.”

The meeting in Committee Room 3 can be viewed live on Oireachtas TV.

PAC is a standing committee of Dáil Éireann which focuses on ensuring public services are run efficiently and achieve value for money. Further information on the role and remit of the Committee can be found here.

Committee proceedings can also be viewed on the Houses of the Oireachtas Smartphone App, available for Apple and Android devices.