A CREDITOR has threatened Glenbeigh Construction, the group that was at the centre of a political row over prison building contracts, with wind-up proceedings in a dispute over €157,000.
The Dáil’s public accounts committee criticised the Irish Prison Service last year for awarding Glenbeigh building contracts worth almost €100 million between 2004 and 2007 without first putting them out to public tender in line with Government and State organisation practice.
The contracts, including work on Castlerea Prison worth €21 million, prompted the State’s Comptroller Auditor General to investigated the service’s tendering procedures.
It emerged yesterday that a sub-contractor, Emerald Civil Engineering, last month took the first step towards seeking to have Glenbeigh wound up by filing a 21-day notice with the High Court.
The 21 days expired on October 18th, which means that Emerald can go ahead and petition the High Court to wind up Glenbeigh.
Emerald held off on taking this action after contacts between solicitors for the two companies, but it is understood it may go ahead with the petition as early as next week if the dispute is not resolved.
The notice centres on a claim for €13,100 in retention payments – a kind of deposit used in the building industry – for work done on the Sunshine Home, run by the Laura Lynn children’s charity in Leopardstown in Dublin.
However, Emerald argues that it is owed a further €144,000 for work on the project. Glenbeigh said yesterday that it intends to defend any High Court action relating to the debt. It also said that it disputes the claim that it owes €144,000 for the work done in Sandyford.
The company added that it had received extra information from Emerald recently that would aid it in establishing how much, if anything, is due to the sub-contractor.
Glenbeigh Construction is a well-known building group, owned and run by businessmen Philip Earle and Frank Doolan. It is based in Damastown in Dublin.
The company has continued to work for the Prison Service, which now puts its contracts out to tender. Last year, Glenbeigh won a €23 million contract for an extension to the Midlands Prison. It is also in the running for a project in Mountjoy Prison in Dublin.
Glenbeigh Construction’s made pretax profits of almost €400,000 last year on the back of €13.8 million in revenues.
Sales fell by more than 50 per cent in 2010 from €28 million the previous year. However, its 2009 pre-tax profits only came to €88,000. Glenbeigh’s costs fell sharply last year.
