In a case that has caused a debate in Ireland, a woman continued to collect her mother’s pension for three years, claiming that it was a way to keep her memory alive. The incident came to light in Meath County, where the authorities recently discovered that pension payments for an older woman, who had died years before, were still retiring.
According to him Irish mirrorCatherine Byrne, 56, the woman’s daughter, never recorded the death of her mother or informed the Social Welfare Department, allowing payments to continue unnoticed for more than 36 months.
The case was finally presented to the Dundalk Circuit Court, where Catherine admitted to withdraw the money, but insisted that it was not used for personal luxury. Instead, she said that the funds were spent on flowers for her mother’s tomb, calling him to keep her mother “alive.”
Despite the emotional explanation, the Court ruled the law as severe well -being fraud. Catherine was sentenced to 240 hours of community service and was ordered to pay the funds in weekly installments of 12,000 euros to the Social Welfare Department. The total amount taken was not revealed, but the authorities said that a complete recovery would be carried out.
The unusual case has raised concerns about the gaps in the death registration systems and the similar supervision potential in public welfare payments.
