Instrotec rescue plan approved

High Court approves Joe Walsh’s rescue plan for Westport-based Instrotec Ireland, which saves the jobs of 480 workers

Ms Justice Leonie Reynolds praised the Revenue Commissioners for its pragmatic decision to accept the deferment of significant payments from Instrotec. Stock picture: Alamy

Examiner Joe Walsh’s rescue plan for Westport-based Instrotec Ireland, which saves the jobs of 480 workers, was approved on Thursday by Ms Justice Leonie Reynolds in the High Court.

Judge Reynolds complimented the pragmatic attitude taken by the Revenue Commissioners in deciding to accept the deferment of significant payments due to them in order to save so many jobs.

The court was told that Revenue was not objecting to the scheme of rescue arrangement proposed by Mr Walsh, of JW Accountants, who had been appointed as examiner to the company. Counsel for Revenue said the jobs included apprentices and those employed in external agency contracts.

Judge Reynolds said the court considered the examiner’s scheme of arrangement fair and equitable to all parties and would protect jobs. She said Revenue’s attitude was very helpful in ensuring the survival of the company.

The court heard that Instrotec was a specialist electrical and instrumentation contractor which works on complex projects such as data centres and semiconductor and pharmaceutical facilities as well as oil and gas plants in Ireland and Europe.

It has 172 apprentices on its books, making it one of the largest trainers of skilled workers in the country. The High Court had been told earlier that the company had a reasonable prospect of survival based on an independent accountant’s report prior to the appointment of Mr Walsh as examiner.

Instrotec, which was founded in 2000 by Donal and Donna Johnston, faced an “exceptionally challenging” period in the first quarter of this year as three large projects all became loss-making.

At the time, Donal Johnston, a time-served electrician with extensive instrumentation and control experience, had identified an opportunity in the market for a specialist contractor in the field of electrical instrumentation and instrument pipefitting.

By coupling this specialist expertise with the provision of traditional industrial electrical systems, Instrotec quickly established a reputation in the growing pharmaceutical and microprocessor manufacturing sectors as the foremost contractor in the provision of instrumentation and control systems.

In recent years, Instrotec expanded on its existing electrical portfolio to establish a proven track record in the installation of various low voltage and medium voltage electrical systems across a broad range of sectors and to the highest of industry standards

Through strengthening this branch of the company Instrotec had become uniquely positioned to provide an all-encompassing service across instrumentation and control, building management and industrial electrical systems.