The High Court has ruled that the HSE’s emergency air ambulance tender included the transport of organs and organ retrieval teams, allowing IAS Medical Limited to count turnover from those services towards the tender’s €4 million annual threshold.
Sere Holding Limited, placed eighth in the competition, challenged the award to IAS, arguing that only patient transfers counted towards the threshold. The HSE awarded IAS the contract on 26 April 2021. It estimated the contract’s value at €9.5 million over four years and said it would save about €4.5 million against the previous contract.
In a judgment delivered on 10 February 2023, Mr Justice Twomey said tenderers would read the Request for Tender and its supporting Specification Response Document as requiring the successful provider to transport organ retrieval teams and facilitate organ retrieval if the HSE requested it. The documents also said patient transfers took priority over organ retrieval missions.
The judge rejected Sere’s argument that every service had to involve a patient, medical personnel and a specially equipped aircraft. The specification described one category as a non-complex patient escort that did not require medical teams or equipment. The court concluded that the tender services did not always require medical personnel.
The parties agreed that IAS met the selection criterion if the tender services included organ and retrieval-team transport. On that basis, the court found IAS satisfied the criterion and ruled that the award could not be invalidated on Sere’s interpretation of the services.
A separate claim that the HSE failed to verify IAS’s turnover remained unresolved. The judge asked Sere to say whether it still wanted that issue determined in light of the ruling. He directed the parties to try to agree outstanding matters without further court time and provide any draft order to the Registrar. The case was provisionally listed for mention one week after judgment, if needed. The judgment did not determine the verification issue or make final orders resolving all outstanding matters.