Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will return to the procurement of personal protective equipment and ventilators. The first two contributions by members were absolutely bizarre in not allowing the HSE to outline the context in which discussions took place and decisions were made. It is akin to two soldiers stepping out of the trenches as the smoke clears, being told they did a great job and invited to sit down so they can be told everything they did wrong. The HSE officials have not been allowed to outline the context in which they made decisions. We did not know the biological make-up of this virus. We did not know how it was transmitted. We did not know what therapeutics worked or did not work. We did not know the role of ventilators. Italian doctors were deciding between people living and dying based on the availability of ventilators. New York officials were pleading for ventilators from around the world. Staff around the world were begging for PPE and using bin liners instead. I will say to public servants across the State that, as a member of the Committee of Public Accounts, I would far rather they take risks to improve public services and protect people's lives than be looking over their shoulders for the prospect of "gotcha" moments at this committee. I do not believe that serves Ireland well.

There will inevitably be lessons learned from the procurement decisions that were made during that period of time. Should another emergency arise, what procurement protections have been put in place or is it intended to put in place? Is there a legal or commercial route to procure the outstanding €23 million or are our guests resigned to that being a bad debt?