Ex-principal ‘inf lated school size for grants’

A FORMER primary school principal has been charged with fraud for claiming to have more pupils enrolled in her school than there were in order to secure additional funding for her school.

RTÉ reported that Helen O’Gorman, 57, had been considerably exaggerating enrolment at St Mary’s National School in Edgeworthstown, Co. Longford for years.

She was arrested on Wednesday in Mullingar and appeared before Judge Séamus Hughes at Longford District Court yesterday morning. According to Sergeant Tom Quinn, Ms O’Gorman of Newtown Lawns, Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, made no comment when she was confronted with the allegations during her arrest last week.

By overstating the number of pupils in the school, Sgt Quinn said that the school was awarded extra staff and grants totalling €450,000 in over-payments from the Department of Education, the court heard. Judge Hughes asked if the school had been subject to inspection in the years leading up to Ms O’Gorman’s arrest and was told there had been no external inspection at the school in recent years, it was reported.

The former principal is charged with six offences under the Theft and Fraud Offences Act. In the 2012-2013 academic year, Ms O’Gorman overstated enrolment numbers by 94 pupils.

Between January and June of 2014, she added an additional 95 students to the actual number on the roll and in 2015, she reported an additional 94 pupils than were attending the school.

As a result, St Mary’s National School was awarded more teaching posts and grants than it was entitled to by the Department of Education.

Her solicitor, Frank Gearty, told the court that while the school benefited, she herself did not receive personal financial gain as a result of her actions.

Ms O’Gorman was given bail of €100 and will return for trial at the next sitting of Longford Circuit Court.