Examiner appointed in bid to save hospital cleaning firm

An examiner has been appointed to a company employing 195 people in Dublin and Galway that provides cleaning services to private hospitals and state bodies after the High Court accepted it has a reasonable prospect of survival if certain conditions are met.

The directors of Neylon Maintenance Services claimed financial mismanagement, including false invoicing, falsification of accounts, falsification of a tax clearance certificate and substantial under declaration of tax liabilities by its financial director, accountant Padraic Faherty, resulted in or exacerbated a decline in profitability from 2009 and led to a Revenue debt of almost €1m.

The petition for examinership arose from the company being insolvent due to the “misbehaviour” of Mr Faherty, a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, Mr Justice Peter Kelly noted. Mr Faherty had been dismissed following failure to live up to his obligations.