The High Court has granted Vector Workplace and Facilities Management Limited summary judgment of €1,192,089.05 against Firstcare Ireland Limited for unpaid invoices for services supplied to Firstcare’s nursing-home and long-term care facilities.
Mr Justice Quinn’s judgment, delivered on 5 October 2021, concerns an application for summary judgment on invoices issued between 20 January and 22 May 2020. The original claim was €1,192,731.67. The judge deducted €642.62 after Vector identified that amount as an administrative error.
Vector supplied catering, cleaning, laundry and facilities-management services under a 2019 agreement. The agreement required invoices to be paid within 30 days and said that a good-faith dispute should be notified as soon as practicable, and within five working days. Firstcare did not invoke that notice provision or identify particular invoices it disputed.
Firstcare said it had concerns about service quality, pricing, increased orders near the contract’s end, labour charges and government wage-subsidy payments. It also relied on an allegation concerning a proposed supplier rebate. The judge noted that Firstcare’s affidavits included accounts of reports and discussions from people who had not sworn affidavits, and that the reports themselves were not exhibited. He characterised much of the challenge as hearsay and bare assertion. The supplier’s affidavit described a request for a rebate to Vector, rather than the alleged request to increase prices charged to Firstcare.
The judge also noted that Firstcare’s March 2020 termination notice cited expected savings of €200,000 to €300,000 a year with an alternative provider. He found the later objections were general and unsupported by evidence tying them to the invoices in the claim. The court did not determine the disputed instalment agreement’s connection to the final amount claimed, and expressed doubt about whether the five-day invoice-dispute clause could by itself bar a challenge. It held that Vector could rely on the clause in the circumstances, where Firstcare had not identified contested invoices.
Applying the summary-judgment test, the court concluded that Firstcare had not disclosed an arguable defence and that it would be unjust to grant leave to defend. Judgment was entered for Vector in the reduced amount. The source does not record a separate order on Firstcare’s proposed counterclaim.