Sinn Fein criticise HSE €624k taxi spend during Covid

[watty]

Good scoop by Aoife Moore in The Examiner.

Who got the contract(s) and were they put out to tender? There's a "funny" bit in the middle where a Social Democrat says it's reasonable because you couldn't expect people to use the trains or the Luas because of the risk of infection. 

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

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."

[mercenary for hire]

Some of these are juicy jobs.Still cheaper to use taxis than using a trained paramedic in an ambulance.

[Shallow Hal]

The Dispensables.

[watty]

You'd wonder what passengers qualified?  I've driven plenty of mostly foreigners out to the National Show Centre besides Swords & mostly Irish to the two places in/around Croker and nobody ever asked for a receipt or mentioned the HSE were paying.

[silverbullet]

The tender is usually deposited in a large brown envelope by the old-fashioned cab companies, allegedly.

Rarely, if ever does one lose the contracts to a competitor.

Nicely portioned out to suppliers, who insist on their drivers pay a "Christmas box" to the cab company, never knowing whether the bribe gets to the government official in Leinster house, etc, or simply trousered by the cab company owner.
I know where I'd place my bet.

Reminds me of an official in JMSE asking James Gogarty, who handed a large brown envelope to Ray Burke which was slipped into an office draw "Will we get a receipt?" "Will we f**k" was Mr. Gogarty's reply.