Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Thursday, 11 May 2023
Public Accounts Committee
Appropriation Accounts 2021
Financial Statements 2021: HSE
Special Report No. 114 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Emergency Procurement of Ventilators by the HSE
Vote 38 - Health
9:30 am
Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I refer to the period of decision-making on the purchase of ventilators. Mr. Gloster indicated that this started in early March 2020 and concluded at the end of April. Was early March not a bit late to start assessing the need for ventilators, given what we knew, including the issues that had arisen in January in Italy and elsewhere around the globe? I accept that Mr. Gloster was not in post at the time but it is important to hear his perspective. It seems to me that March was a little late for us to be coming to the table looking for ventilators.