Business

Firm alleges State owes it €1.9m for asylum seeker shelter

Company seeks payment plus daily interest of €610 on foot of unpaid invoices

Abbeytrill Partnership also wants the court to award it damages for alleged breach of contract. Photograph: Bryan O'Brien

Ellen O'Riordan
Mon Mar 11 2024 - 20:00

A company alleges the Department of Integration owes it €1.9 million, with interest of €610 accruing per day, on foot of outstanding invoices for the provision of asylum seeker accommodation.

In High Court proceedings, Abbeytrill Partnership says its centre at a business park in Ballybrit, Galway, is contracted to house 302 international protection applicants at a daily cost to the State of €24,703, including VAT.

The court on Monday heard the alleged sums arise out of unpaid invoices for last July, August and part of September, when the company was working to bring the premises in line with building compliance regulations to Galway City Council’s satisfaction.

Abbetrill’s managing director, Martin Walsh (also known as Joey Walsh), says in an affidavit that the department initially placed about 100 residents at the property on foot of a two-year contract signed in May 2023.

READ MORE

Before entering the agreement, Mr Walsh says, Abbeytrill wrote to the Minister saying it was liaising with Galway City Council over compliance matters and had obtained an opinion of a senior barrister to the effect that the council’s approach was “too onerous”.

The local authority advised the firm in early June that the property was not in line with building regulations.

The department paid out on foot of invoices covering May 29th to June 30th, but its officials told the company on June 30th that payments were being suspended. Mr Walsh said he wrote to the department highlighting it had been “well aware” of the issues before entering the contract and that failure to pay was causing “significant” cash flow problems.

The department advised that “any held payments will be immediately released” once the council granted a certificate of compliance, Mr Walsh says.

Payments resumed on September 29th to cover from September 11th to the end of the month, and all subsequent invoices have been paid, says Mr Walsh.

The department’s failure to discharge invoices covering more than two months is a breach of the May contract, Abbeytrill alleges in its lawsuit against the Minister.

The firm seeks judgment of €1.78 million plus interest of €111,000 and continuing interest accruing at €610 daily. It also wants the court to award it damages for alleged breach of contract.

Abbeytrill’s barrister, Tomás Keys, with Martin Hayden SC, told the court on Monday that efforts to resolve the dispute through mediation were unsuccessful.

The Minister, through his senior counsel Shelley Horan, did not object to Abbeytrill’s request for the case to enter the High Court’s fast-track commercial division.

Ms Horan said there was a failure to provide habitable accommodation that complied with legal requirements.

Mr Justice Denis McDonald admitted the proceedings to the Commercial Court, noting efforts to resolve them outside of court “came to nothing”. He adjourned the case.

Ellen O'Riordan

Ellen O'Riordan

Ellen O'Riordan is an Irish Times reporter

LATEST STORIES