The Health Service Executive spent €15,422,873 on private consultancy firms during the first year of the Covid-19 vaccination rollout, new figures show.

According to the HSE, the majority of the money was spent on urgent business support.

Figures, provided through Freedom of Information, show that most of the consultancy costs in 2021, €9,352,942, was spent with the firm Price Waterhouse Coopers.

The firm provided programme management and operational resourcing support to the vaccination programme.

Costs for 2022 were not available at the time of the FOI request.

The Covid-19 vaccination rollout began in hospitals in late 2020, but it was March 2021 when vaccination centres became operational.

Another firm, Vision Consulting Ltd, received €5,139,081. It also provided programme management and operational resourcing support to the HSE.

Other firms included MCO Projects, which received €304,521.30; PA Consulting Group, which received €441,227.70; and Grant Thornton, which received €185,099.60.

Over 13 million Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in Ireland to date.

In a statement, the HSE said that the reduction and control of consultancy has been and continues to be a particular focus for the health service.

It added that the majority of the costs were associated with urgent business operational support, as opposed to management consultancy services.

And as it builds its in-house expertise, dependency on management consultancy should be reduced, it added.

Speaking at a recent meeting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health, the CEO of the HSE Bernard Gloster told politicians that the Chief Financial Officer, at his request, is finalising a “rapid review of expenditure which will inform actions intended to ensure costs in the area of management consultants will be reduced to the most appropriate level”.

In its statement the HSE added that from October to December this year, it will “reduce spend on management consultants by 30% and the full-year effect of that would be a reduction of €35 – €40 million and will continue into 2024”.

Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly said this was a very high amount to spend on external support, but that the HSE was asked by the Government to do everything it needed to do to keep people safe.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, he said that It was a “moment in time where the HSE was asked to do everything they possibly do in the response to Covid”.

“That’s what they did. And I know personally, for example, that some of that money was spent supporting testing and tracing regimes and testing and tracing systems that were set up,” Mr Donnelly said.

“The country did well. The HSE did well. That meant bringing in third party expertise.”