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

According to the Comptroller and Auditor General, more than one third of our spend on PPE had to be written off. That spend amounted to over €900 million. Much of that PPE was thrown in the bin. For example, hand sanitisers had to be recalled after millions of euro was spent on them.

After spending millions on hand sanitiser, the HSE purchased now infamous ViraPro hand sanitiser in March 2020. It received a shipment in July 2020. A month later, the HSE learned that hand sanitiser had to be registered with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to ensure its safety, but it was not safe so it was recalled. Then there was a massive failure involving the ventilators. In total, 2,200 ventilators were ordered, at a cost of €81 million, from different suppliers not previously used. Fewer than a quarter were delivered and none was put to clinical use. That is extremely concerning when we see everything going on in this State. Can the Minister of State confirm for the record that there were no other such purchases of faulty goods or equipment?

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