Tony Holohan introduced Roqu to HSE for supply of ventilators
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The former chief medical officer Tony Holohan first introduced a festival management company to the HSE for the ill-fated provision of Covid-19 ventilators, according to new documents released to the .
Dr Holohan was approached by Robert Quirke, the chief executive of Roqu Media International, on March 16, 2020 — less than a fortnight before Ireland entered lockdown.
In turn, Dr Holohan — who told the that he did not know Mr Quirke or his business at the time — referred the Roqu CEO’s approach to the Department of Health. It then suggested that the HSE’s head of procurement Sean Bresnan should “follow up on this offer”, according to documents that were released after a 20-month battle following a ruling by the Information Commissioner.
Within a fortnight, the HSE had paid more than €14m for the provision of an initial 300 ventilators from China. Just 72 machines were ever delivered.
None were ever used in clinical practice due to their failing quality-control screening upon their arrival to Ireland. Following a refund by Roqu of €3.8m to the HSE, the executive’s final bill for the devices was €10.3m.
Westmeath native Mr Quirke, who at the time had been working in the Middle East for several years running music festivals in countries such as Saudi Arabia, wrote to Dr Holohan sending his “sincere best wishes, strength and comradery”.
“My international group, headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is offering you full support and the opportunity to immediately receive delivery of the necessary ventilators, Covid-19 test kits, RNA tests, masks/suits, and emergency medical supplies,” he wrote.
“We have stock warehoused and immediately available to ship to you today.”
He added that the products he hoped to make available to the HSE were “fully CE and EU certified” and that “full details can be provided”.
In the end, the machines that were delivered were non-compliant, according to the Health Products Regulatory Authority.
Some 20 of the machines Roqu arranged delivery for arrived with a CE certificate that was five years out of date.
Asked for comment, Dr Holohan said that Mr Quirke had approached him on LinkedIn and that “neither he nor his business were known to me”.
He said he had made the referral “in line with Covid-related procedures for dealing with offers of service, equipment, and expertise”, and that he had not responded to Mr Quirke and “had no further involvement in the matter”.
Mr Quirke did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for the group previously told the that it had at all times acted in good faith.
Many of the people privy to the transaction, including Dr Holohan and Mr Bresnan, have since left their posts in the Irish health service.
The HSE has been involved in a legal wrangle with Roqu for the past two years in its attempts to recoup some €6m of the money it paid to the festival management company.
Asked for an update regarding that progress, a HSE spokesperson said: “The dispute resolution process is ongoing and so we are not in a position to comment on it at this time”.
Roqu recently posted a loss of €1.8m across its group companies for 2021.