To describe the Blood Transfusion Service Board's finances in the late 1970s/early 1980s as disastrous would be an "understatement", the agency's former accounts and personnel officer said yesterday.
Mr Edward A. Ryan said money was very scarce during the period, which coincided with the board's costly move of headquarters from Leeson Street to Mespil Road.
He said as debts mounted and it became clear the board was "living beyond our means", the only solution to its problems was a large capital grant from the Department of Health. This came in 1982 in the form of a £1.65 million bail-out.
Mr Ryan, who was responsible for accounting matters in the board between 1974 and 1988, said the basis of the BTSB's problems was its founding statutory instruments, as they created uncertainty about how capital expenditure would be funded.
In hindsight, he said, the decision to move to Mespil Road in 1978 was "certainly" not prudent. However, at the time it was seen as desirable from a medical and scientific viewpoint as existing laboratories were unsatisfactory.
In dealing with its financial problems, he said, the board tended to resort to "palliative" or "short-term escape methods from reality" - in other words "postponement rather than cure".
He said he had a feeling the Department was sympathetic to the board's plight but had financial problems of its own. He believed it was "willing but not able", adding that when it came to funding, Department officials "kept their cards close to their chest".
A "recurring problem" for the board, he said, was the delay in getting the Department to agree to price increases for products and blood derivatives which the BTSB supplied to hospitals. He said whenever the increases came "it was too late", as the board's financial troubles would have mounted in the interim.
Adding to the board's problems were government embargoes on recruiting staff, although Mr Ryan said he did not recall a "crisis" arising over this.
He said board members would have been fully aware of the agency's financial problems. Asked whether he could recall a situation where an issue of safety had to be resolved in an unsatisfactory way for financial reasons, Mr Ryan replied: "Never."
He said safety and concern for patients were the "prime factor".
