HSE procurement targets in doubt as Beaumont reports €14m non-compliant spend

January Covid surge and last month’s cyberattack mean ‘certain’ delays for HSE’s plan to implement a centralised spending framework and tackle non-compliant expenditure

Paul Reid, the HSE’s chief executive, said introduction of the new spending framework will cost €82 million. Picture: Leon Farrell/Photocall Ireland

The HSE could miss its target of bringing 80 per cent of procurement in line with public guidelines by 2024 amid non-compliant spending worth millions annually across Ireland’s healthcare service.

The executive has said the recent cyber attack, as well as a surge in Covid-19 cases earlier this year, mean delays are “certain” for a years-long project designed to bring the vast majority of HSE expenditure under a centralised procurement structure within four years.

A HSE spokeswoman told the Business Post that a review of the current plan for implementing the system was underway and said recent turbulence in the HSE was “certain to result in delays against the current plan”.