The Irish Blood Transfusion Service has scrapped a new computer system for the safety and tracing of blood products, after spending €1.8m on it.
Chief executive Andrew Kelly said the decision was 'very embarrassing' but insisted there was never any threat to the blood supply.
The Blood Transfusion Service first decided to upgrade its computer system over three years ago.
A budget of over €3m was set aside for the project, called eProgesa. It was supplied by a French company.
The computer system was to be an upgrade of the original Progresa system introduced in 2003, after a series of infection scandals.
But it never went live. After spending €1.8m on the system, the blood bank was forced to scrap it due to technical difficulties.
Around €729,000 has now been written off, but the blood bank says it is using the hardware for other projects.
In recent weeks, the Comptroller and Auditor General has started an investigation into the controversy, and a separate review by outside consultants KPMG, commissioned by the blood bank, is due to be finished soon.
The Blood Transfusion Service says it hopes to move its existing system to new hardware by April.
