HSE spent €624k on taxis for suspected Covid-19 patients 

The money spent by the HSE to take people to Covid-19 vaccination centres by taxi has been described as 'crazy'. 

The HSE has spent €624,573 on taxis taking people to and from Covid-19 testing and vaccine centres, since the pandemic began in 2020.

The figures are taken from the start of the pandemic to the end of October 2021, for when the HSE says no other transport option was available and it was "essential" for people to access a timely test.

Sinn Féin TD and member of the public accounts committee, Matt Carthy, says the amount of money spent on taxis is "crazy".

"The HSE will need to explain how such a substantial amount of money is spent on taxis in these instances," Mr Carthy said.

"The public accounts committee have previously raised concerns with regard to procurement practices with the HSE during the pandemic.

"Everyone recognises that rules needed to be relaxed in order to deal with an emergency, but it appears the HSE threw them out the window altogether."

However, Social Democrats co-leader, Catherine Murphy, says although the total cost is high, it appears reasonable because of public health considerations.

"A lot of the test or vaccine centres are in places where people cannot get public transport to," Ms Murphy said.

"Where someone has symptoms, they cannot use public transport, for obvious reasons. I feel there is a reasonable approach needed in a pandemic.

"In the early days of the vaccinations, getting people to the centres was a problem. It might have been more expensive to put another test centre in certain places.

"Where it's not accessible by way of public transport, I think it's reasonable enough to use taxis.

"Some of the purchases by the HSE during the pandemic have big question marks hanging over them, but this is probably reasonable during a pandemic.

"One thing that concerned me was during the lockdowns, there were people getting on trains or the Luas and heading to the Aviva Stadium and being tested. How can you possibly contain a pandemic like that? It's a risk."

A spokesperson from the HSE said: "The provision of this transport option was essential to the public health requirements of providing a timely test for people, so that a person with Covid-19 symptoms had a test, and where they had a positive result, it facilitated timely follow-up with close contacts. 

"It should be noted that this facility was reserved for people who had no other means of travelling and avoided the need for a home visit for a test by the National Ambulance Service, which allowed for the National Ambulance Service to be used for home visits for individuals who were housebound.

"In view of making the most appropriate use of existing resources and being able to respond appropriately to the public-health requirements, it is considered that the use of taxis was an effective use of funding."