Woman in Australia claimed €30k welfare payouts here

A woman has been spared a jail sentence for unlawfully getting €30,000 in disability allowance payments in Ireland while she lived in Australia for two years.

Marije Nika, 49, a Kosovar refugee with an address at Cardy Rock Square, Balbriggan, Co Dublin, was prosecuted by the Department of Social Protection.

Nika, who fled her war-torn country and came to Ireland in 2000, pleaded guilty at Dublin District Court to a charge under the Social Welfare Consolidation Act.