The operator of two nursing homes situated in Co Dublin has been assigned temporary liquidators by the High Court. On Wednesday, Justice Mark Sanfey appointed Dessie Morrow and Diarmuid Guthrie from Azets as the interim liquidators for Passage Healthcare International (Ireland) Limited upon establishing that the company is insolvent and incapable of settling its debts when they mature.
The insolvent firm had been providing services in Lucan Lodge Nursing Home with 74 beds and Sally Park Nursing Home in Firhouse, Dublin with 41 beds. Justice Sanfey highlighted that the global Covid-19 pandemic had significantly impacted the company’s financial stability, predominantly causing a reduction in occupancy levels of their nursing homes, and consequently, their costs increased.
Previously, the company underwent an examinership process with the expectation that a recovery plan ensuring its continuity could be established. However, this process terminated last month before the Circuit Court as the examiner was unable to secure the necessary investment to establish a suitable plan.
The court was informed that following the examinership’s failure, the HSE has been managing Lucan Lodge and handling the remuneration of its 92 employees, with plans to devise alternative provisions for the residents of Lucan Lodge.
The company had to stop their operations at Sally Park in February due to concerns raised by Hiqa about the facility, including fire safety. Despite spending large amounts correcting the raised issues, the facility failed to resolve the matters, prompting Hiqa to revoke the nursing home’s registration. Over 40 employees were rendered redundant at Sally Park, and the residents were relocated.
On Wednesday, the company presented an ex parte application to the court for the temporary liquidators’ appointment. The company no longer had the court’s protection following the examinership’s termination, and its directors decided to liquidate the company. It was expressed that the assignment of the liquidators would lend transparency to the circumstances and aid the orderly liquidation of the company. Although the HSE has been handling the employees’ remuneration, they are still deemed as employees of the company; thus, they are entitled to certain benefits, necessitating the initiation of a collective redundancy process.
The firm is in debt to a number of commercial lenders, and the liquidators must resolve these outstanding debts. The liquidators will also manage the settlement of a lease agreement for the premises from which the company operated, according to the legal advisor. The legal advisor clarified that neither the HSE nor Revenue objected to the suggestion of appointing Mr Morrow and Mr Guthrie. Following the appointment of provisional liquidators, the Judge conferred several rights to them, such as the authority to seize control of the firm’s assets, and then postponed the proceedings.