State paid 'astronomical' €915m for PPE in 2020

Pictured in April 2020 is Prof Martin Cormican, National Lead for Infection Control and Antimicrobial Resistance, HSE, displaying some of the PPE equipment sourced from China. Picture: Leon Farrell/Photocall Ireland.

The state had to pay “an astronomical” €915 million to obtain personal protection equipment (PPE) last year in the fight against Covid-19, the Irish Examiner can reveal.

For the first time, the true scale of the hugely inflated spend on PPE is revealed with three companies earning between €226 million and €102 million and another 11 companies earning between €50 million and €10 million from the Irish government.

Figures obtained by People Before Profit TD Gino Kenny and supplied to this newspaper show that the State also paid €30.5 million for 1,026 ventilator units or €29,806 per unit.

According to the documents, the State paid Hong-Kong based company China Resources Pharmaceutical a whopping €225 million last year for PPE.

The second-largest payment was to Ennis-based firm EKO Integrated Services Limited which was paid €115.5 million. A comment from the company was sought but was not forthcoming before publication.

The third highest payment was €102 million to South Korean company Dobu Mask Incorporated.

People Before Profit TD Gino Kenny said the figures paid are “astronomical”. Picture:Gareth Chaney/Collins

Defending the spend, the HSE said all products received were reviewed against quality standards as specified by the World Health Organisation and all purchases are subject to HSE standard terms and conditions.

Where quality issues were identified, the HSE engaged with the supplier to agree on a solution, ie take back unacceptable goods and refund the HSE.

The HSE says it has entered into a number of short-term arrangements with third party suppliers for the storage and management of national PPE stock of approximately €8 million.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner, Mr Kenny said the figures paid are “astronomical”, adding that "it would be interesting to see how much of the PPE equipment that was purchased last year was deemed unusable for its medical setting purpose."

He said it would be practical to produce PPE in Ireland given the standards of some supplies and labour issues globally.