THE CIVIL case brought by a contractor against Fine Gael Senator Fidelma Healy Eames and her husband has been adjourned until today for a further two witnesses to give evidence on their behalf.

Michael Allen claimed he was paid only €13,000 of the €28,840 he quoted for plumbing and heating works before he was taken off the job at their home in Maree, Oranmore, in 2009. He told Galway Circuit Court yesterday the Senator had been anxious to have their garage turned into offices for Fine Gael, but his work was suspended on the project after a few days. The couple strongly disputed Mr Allen’s claims.

Mr Allen said Michael Eames came to his own house to see his windows with a view to using the same supplier, and asked him to quote for plumbing his house.

An agreement was reached, he said, for a payment of €10,000 for the first fix, the same amount for the second and the balance on completion.

“Michael only gave me €7,000 – I felt he was fobbing me off, paying when he felt like it, and not what we agreed,” he said.

Mr Allen asked for, and received, a cheque for €3,000 when he met Ms Healy Eames at Tuam Plumbing and Heating, where she was to choose sanitary wear. He said a jacuzzi she chose for the en suite did not fit the previously plumbed space allocated.

Mr Allen said the interior designer the couple hired suggested installing the bathroom in the area assigned for a walk-in wardrobe. He complied with this, giving Mr Eames a “roundabout figure” of €1,431 for time, labour and materials.

Mr Allen said on October 27th, 2009, after the heating system was “up and running”, he received a further €3,000 from the couple.

He claimed Mr Eames delayed paying him the rest of the agreed price, claiming he was waiting to draw down more money on his mortgage. “I got a call to come up, and ‘we’ll pay you some money’ – when I arrived he was not paying me for the job, he said he’d pay what he felt like paying me, and that our agreement was null and void,” Mr Allen said.

Mr Eames paid cash to the plumber Mr Allen originally hired to complete the project. “I felt I was being undercut – I’m a registered business, I pay tax and VAT, everything is on the books, and I’m fully insured,” Mr Allen said.

Michael Eames disputed much of what the plaintiff said, telling the court he was the one who was pursued for the job. “He wanted €10,000 up front, which I felt was a lot to start with, but he said he had to pay for solar panels,” he said. “We agreed on €7,000 . . . In July 2009 the solar panels were fitted, but then the installer was preparing to remove them because he said he hadn’t been paid.”

He said although he had asked for a quote, he had not received one when he arrived on site to find Mr Allen and the plumber working on the project. He stopped them immediately. He said Mr Allen had walked off the job and, despite efforts to get him back, he had initiated legal proceedings.

The case continues today before Judge Rory McCabe.