'The HSE paid a supplier €723,000 twice' - €7m HSE loss criticsed by Leitrim councillor

The news that the Health Service Executive could face a loss of up to €7m due to its dealings with a medical devices company that provided respiratory technology during the Covid-19 pandemic was described as "a shocking waste of public money and a clear sign of failure in financial management at the top of the HSE" by a Leitrim councillor this week. 

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) was told that the HSE bought respiratory products from the company, spending around €15m between 2020 and 2024.

However, the purchases were not compliant with its procurement process.

The company in question later went into liquidation, meaning there was "no hope" of the HSE recovering losses of between €5m and €7m, Chief Executive Bernard Gloster told PAC.

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Cllr Fallon said that the incident "exposes deep failures in financial control and oversight within the HSE and the Department of Health, and he echoed Sinn Fein Health Spokesperson David Cullinane’s call for full accountability and answers from Minister for Health."

Speaking to the Leitrim Observer Cllr Fallon said: “The HSE paid a supplier €723,000 twice and admits there is no hope of recovering millions more. That is crazy; it’s unacceptable. There appears to have been a complete failure of the most basic checks and balances. How can an organisation of this scale not know what it received or how payments were made? This is public money, and it demands accountability. The Minister for Health must explain how these losses occurred and what action will be taken to hold those responsible to account.

He concluded: "This cannot be brushed off as a Covid-era error. It shows deep, ongoing weaknesses in how the HSE manages contracts and payments. People are tired of hearing about waste in the HSE. They want answers and accountability - not excuses. There must be consequences for failures on this scale.” Imagine what tenth of this money could do in a county like ours."