Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister and Minister of State for coming before the committee and the officials who produced a very comprehensive document on this. The first thing I wish to focus on is procurement. There is a lot of concern out there regarding Government spending and buying from companies during this pandemic, particularly where the goods it has bought have then proven to be faulty or not up to scratch. We saw that with the purchase of faulty ventilators from two separate companies. One transaction with a company called Shenzhen Prunus, which cost the taxpayer almost €5 million, involved buying 250 units. After a number of those units failed tests, all 250 units were quarantined. Can the Minister confirm whether they are still in quarantine or have been destroyed, and whether the taxpayer has received a refund regarding this?

In a second transaction, 300 ventilators were bought from Roqu Media International. That company specialised in entertainment services, not the provision of medical equipment. That contract cost €14.1 million. This company organised festivals in Saudi Arabia yet at the same time, it seemed okay to give it €14.1 million to purchase ventilators. To anyone who has seen the documentary, it is very clear that this is Ireland's answer to Fyre Festival. This deal was supposed to cost €35 million and we know Roqu Media International was not the actual manufacturer, which was Shenzhen Probe, but it acted as the intermediary. In actuality, it was an intermediary of another intermediary called Shanghai Lingang Group, an arrangement that was not made clear to the HSE at the outset.

Can the Minister confirm how many of these ventilators were faulty and were any of them used? Let us put this into context. We need to remember that at this time, there were communities in local areas trying to raise enough money to pay for PPE for their local nursing homes or whatever else they felt was necessary, yet at the same time, we see a festival organiser get €14.1 million. That is simply not good enough. I would really like to hear the Minister's clarifications regarding that issue.

I have also seen an internal document that looks at the risks relating to Roqu Media. We see that it was red flag after red flag yet the purchase went ahead. This was done internally in the HSE. It said that there was a risk that expenditure of this magnitude would be wasted, that the quality of the machines was not to the standard specified or expected by the HSE, that there were no CE marks on the machines and there were issues relating to the variation in standards involving multiple machines being supplied from multiple manufacturing sites. This was red flag after red flag so I would like to hear the Minister's clarification on this issue.

I understand that this same company was also involved in other schemes where the plug had to be pulled. I would be interested in hearing the Minister's views on companies that have continuous issues regarding the quality or standard of what they provide and whether there is any concern regarding them being able to apply for and win more procurement contracts. Is it the Minister's view that this highlights weaknesses in Ireland's procurement regime and, if so, what is he going to do to ensure that our light touch regulation, which is what it has been called, becomes a bit more hands on?