Discussion about costs for test-off at schools
Health
The contracts between the Ministry of Education and the Salzburg Working Group on Molecular Diagnostics for school PCR tests have caused a stir among the opposition in Vienna. According to the Viennese magazine “Falter”, the contract with the Salzburg test providers was not terminated at the end of the school tests.
Accordingly, a fine of eleven million euros is threatened. SPÖ, FPÖ and NEOS demand clarification from Education Minister Martin Polaschek (ÖVP). Such claims for damages were neither announced nor actually raised, says ARGE managing director Claudia Prantner-Lahr when asked by ORF Salzburg. There is a good climate for discussion with the responsible Ministry of Education.
The Tauernklinikum Zell am See (Pinzgau) belongs to the ARGE Molecular Diagnostics.
At the beginning of June, the Ministry of Education stopped the PCR tests in schools. This measure was only announced the week before – talks are currently underway between the ministry and the test provider in eight federal states about the assumption of costs.
Falter: “Polaschek forgot to resign”
According to the weekly newspaper Falter, Minister of Education Martin Polaschek (ÖVP) forgot to terminate the contract with the test provider, which ran until the end of the school year, which means that a fine of eleven million euros is in the offing. The ministry only emphasized the contractual conformity of the procedure. No one wanted to comment on the details, and the test provider also said nothing about it.
Negotiations are likely to be ongoing in the background. They didn’t want to say anything about the exact figures, and they didn’t want to talk about “forgetting” about the termination. The government determined the general easing steps (e.g. restriction of the mask requirement) on May 24th for June 1st – the Ministry of Education chose the same days to announce the end of the test and probably informed the test provider at the same time or shortly before.
units in the contract
Apparently, the contract provides for the possibility of (short-term) suspension or termination (with notice). But if you suspend, it is clear that the customer cannot simply stop paying – but he does not have to pay the full amount either.
Bidding consortium did not conduct tests as agreed
In addition, the bidding consortium did not carry out the tests as agreed at the beginning of the year. First there were database problems, which meant that test results could not be assigned. Later, for a few weeks, instead of two tests a week as agreed, only one was carried out. The ministry therefore reserved the right to make contractual claims – and these are now likely to be discussed in the contract process.