Cork woman holidayed in Barbados after fraudulent carer's claims

Garda John Dineen said Mary O’Callaghan used a significant amount of the money she defrauded for a significant amount of foreign travel

Mary O’Callaghan fraudulently claimed €69,000 in carer’s allowance for her minding her elderly mother in Cork when she was actually living in London. Picture: Michael Mac Sweeney/Cork Courts

A 52-year-old woman who fraudulently claimed €69,000 in carer’s allowance for her minding her elderly mother in Cork when she was actually living in London used the money to holiday in Barbados, Morocco and other places.

Garda John Dineen, who is seconded to the Department of Social Protection, said Mary O’Callaghan of Woodvale Road, Beaumont, Blackrock, Cork, used a significant amount of the money she defrauded for a significant amount of foreign travel.