Conned welfare out of €14,000

A TUBBERCURRY man who conned the Department of Social Protection out of €14,512.10 has been told to come to court with “thousands” by June 10 or face jail.

Last Wednesday, Judge Kevin Kilrane gave the warning to Darren O’Shaughnessy of The Granary, Rathscanlon, Charlestown Road, after the court was told by

Sligo State solicitor Elisa McHugh that the defendant had paid €840 out of the total owed after sentence was passed in 2019. The defendant had pleaded guilty to a charge that on a date on August 26, 2015, he failed to tell the Department that he was living with his spouse Anastasia O’Shaughnessy who was getting a disability payment from the US which affected his entitlement to Jobseekers Allowance. He also pleaded guilty to a charge that he made a false statement to obtain Job Seeker’s Allowance on June 27, 2016.

Defence solicitor Eamon Óg Gallagher said it was an “unusual case”.

He said the defendant’s wife was on a payment from the US and the defendant was getting social welfare payments when they came back from the States and were living in Galway.

The defendant moved back to Tubbercurry and was not receiving any social welfare since 2017. He had not worked since and was relying on the “good will of his wife.” The defendant realised how serious the situation was, but he had no money to pay back to the Department.

Judge Kilrane noted that the defendant had not worked in six years and part of that period saw virtual full employment in the country.

“If this were in the US, he would be serving time in jail.”

The defendant owed the Department over €14,000 but continued to “doss around”.

The judge said that the defendant had better come up with a sum of “thousands” in Sligo District Court on June 10 or face jail.

The judge pointed out that the defendant had been getting Jobseekers Allowance in the past for quite some time.

“He has decided that he isn’t going to work,” said the judge.

The court heard the defendant had no previous convictions.

The case was put back to Sligo District Court on June 10.