The Republic's Department of Health has confirmed that no joint order has been placed for personal protective equipment (PPE) from China in conjunction with the Stormont executive.
Last week Finance Minister Conor Murphy announced that a "significant" consignment of PPE had been secured in a joint order between Stormont and the Dublin government.
A spokeswoman for the Dublin government said: "We are ready to discuss any area where we can co-operate effectively, north and south, including on procurement of PPE and critical supplies.
"In relation to procurement, while it has not so far proved possible to place a joint order in the context of what is an increasingly challenging international environment, discussions between procurement teams are ongoing and active, and it remains our intention to continue to co-operate in this area."
Speaking this afternoon at the Stormont executive's daily press briefing,
Conor Murphy said: "We sent them our requirements on Friday night."
He said it became apparent over the weekend that other major players were entering the international market for materials.
"We have struggled all week to keep that order in place until yesterday afternoon when we learned that those supply lines have been bought over by others."
Arrangements had been made for payment before the order fell through, he said.
The Sinn Féin minister said people on the ground had been checking the quality of stock bought by the Dublin government.
"We will try another alternative pipeline."
He added an agreement for greater collaboration on procurement had been signed between health departments north and south of the border.
First Minister Arlene Foster addressed the lack of PPE.
She said: "Governments are also having to make difficult decisions, sometimes in a matter of hours and as new information about the coronavirus and its spread comes to light there has been a frantic scramble across the globe for personal protective equipment for healthcare workers, for ventilators, for the availability of tests and also the setting up specialist hospitals.
"Businesses here and elsewhere have indeed stepped up to the plate in repurposing their production lines to provide equipment, nevertheless ministers and officials across the world are becoming frustrated at the struggle to source equipment."
Ms Foster described "very stressful times" but emphasised the executive is "doing everything it can to limit the damage and protect our NHS staff and the volunteers who have joined them, and indeed the workers who are keeping this society functioning".
"It is obviously that none of this is easy. We may not always agree in our approach but I don't for one minute doubt the sincerity of Michelle, or Conor or Robin, or Nichola, or Naomi or indeed any minister in their desire to save lives, and neither should you," she said, naming other party leaders in the region.
"We are facing the biggest global health emergency for over 100 years. We haven't seen a pandemic on this scale since the Spanish flu, and our citizens of course are hungry for information, for reassurance and for advice."
Earlier today, Stormont sources had queried whether any deal between the Dublin government and Stormont executive for the order had been finalised.
The Department of Finance responded by saying that in the last couple of weeks the finance minister "has been assisting efforts to procure PPE and other supplies with both the Irish and British governments".
A nurses' representative body has blasted "mixed messages" over supplies of PPE after the chief executive of the Belfast health trust spoke of challenges securing FFP3 masks while health minister Robin Swann said there are "significant levels of PPE in stock".
Pat Cullen, director of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in Northern Ireland, previously said she had been inundated with calls from nurses who are "really, really terrified" about their risk of contracting the virus and "leaving young families behind".
Ms Cullen added that some nurses caring for "seriously ill" coronavirus patients could not access specialist masks and gowns, known as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and are instead wearing 'level 1' cotton masks that tie behind their ears and plastic aprons over their uniforms.
Health minister Robin Swann has insisted that "concrete action" is being taken to address the issue.
However, the RCN chief said her members in hospitals and the community are saying the equipment is "simply not on the ground".
"Some of these nurses know they are at seriously at risk and are ringing me in tears. They're saying to me, 'Am I going to leave behind my young family'," she told The Irish News.
"They want to take care of their families and they're asking should they make out wills. It's just heartbreaking.
"As of today, despite assurances by the Department of Health, nurses are telling me the PPE they have is absolutely below the standard it should be. I am very concerned about the outcomes for these nurses."
