Businessman in dispute with HSE over faulty ventilators wins contract for Galway hydro turbine project

Robert Quirke: His company Roqu has been in dispute with the HSE over €10.3m paid to the company since May 2020. Picture: Julien Behal

A man behind a festival management company in dispute with the HSE over more than €10m in unusable covid ventilators is to install a new €3.3m hydroelectric turbine system on the Galway City canal network.

Quirke Renewable Systems, a company operated by Robert Quirke, has landed a contract with the city council to install a hydro turbine project bankrolled by EU funding.

Westmeath-born Quirke came to public attention when his company Roqu Media International — which had previously been involved in running music festivals in the Middle East and eastern Europe — received €14.1m from the HSE to procure 328 ventilators from China at the height of the pandemic.

However, just 72 ventilators were received, and the devices subsequently failed to pass the quality standards required for clinical deployment and were never used.

Roqu has been in dispute with the HSE over €10.3m paid to the company since May 2020. In total, €35m was in dispute between the HSE, Roqu and three other companies.

Asked if the council was aware of Mr Quirke’s background prior to the new turbine project being greenlit, a spokesperson for the local authority said it “is not in a position to comment on external projects or services that may be subject to dispute”.

"The hydro turbine initiative is a collaborative effort involving multiple stakeholders, focused on assessing the feasibility of potential installation sites within the city’s canal network,” they said.

“Upon identification of suitable locations, comprehensive design plans and supporting documentation will be prepared. These will inform the subsequent tendering process, through which a construction contract will be issued to the open market for implementation.” 

Mr Quirke did not reply to a request for comment on the matter. Having previously declared himself as being resident in Malta, Mr Quirke is now officially based in Lusk, north Co Dublin, according to the most up-to-date filings for his two renewable energy companies.

In 2023, a sister company to Quirke Renewables, Eco Hydro, was contracted by luxury Kildare golf resort the K Club to "restore and improve” that facility’s existing hydroelectric generator which used the flow of the River Liffey as its power source, with the resulting project being completed and going live in late 2024.

At the time, the K Club said the new generator was expected to cover about 70% of the complex’s power needs.

As of May of this year, that hydroelectric turbine had been turned off indefinitely, after complaints from waterways regulator Inland Fisheries Ireland led to a threat of planning enforcement by Kildare County Council when it emerged the generator had been installed without the appropriate planning permission.

The Galway canal project would see the construction of three small hydroelectric installations which would then provide power for electric vehicle charging points and street lighting.