“We have placed a number of orders. For the Covid crisis, it is 25 million euros out of 30 billion in expenditure which are devoted to the consulting firm. I recognize it and I claim it. do all the countries in the world when you go through a crisis”, explained Olivier Véran, Minister of Health, while an investigation book estimates that the government has spent between 1.5 billion and 3 billion euros per year in private consulting firms. 47 orders have been placed by the Ministry of Health.
Use of private firms ➡️ Olivier Véran speaks of “25 million euros out of 30 billion expenses” says Olivier Véran, who “recognizes and claims it”. “What is behind it is that the private, it would be dirty. What I looked for was efficiency.” pic.twitter.com/ZA8HZa3y0Z
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A firm has, for example, been mandated to identify the number of masks available in April 2020. A choice defended by Olivier Véran: “Did you know where they were? You knew that there were 40,000 masks at the Court of Auditors because the instructions were to store the masks in the various organizations, territories, communities? So, when taking an inventory, yes , we call on people who are experts in these matters.
Public or private, it doesn’t matter: “What there is is that the private would be dirty in our country”, continued the Minister of Health, for whom some people believe that “qwhen you have people who are talented, engineers, logisticians, handlers, because they are under private status, it’s dirty”. “These are the same people who sometimes consider that there are too many civil servants and that public spending is excessive. What I was looking for was efficiency. To surround ourselves with all the talent that came both private and public”explained Olivier Véran.
Use of private practices ➡️ “Our country was at war. When you have to equip a TGV in 48 hours to transport intubated patients, you are happy to find people who have the skills to do so. They are in the sector, private” , for Olivier Véran. pic.twitter.com/Qs2SZemR52
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“I find it hard to understand the political meaning of this debate. We need the private sector. It’s normal to be evaluated, but each time it’s harsh on everything. In our country, we can’t recognize that there are things that have succeeded”he lamented.
Olivier Véran denies having received “a circular specifically asking the ministry in the context of crisis management to make less use of private firms.”