A department of Social Welfare official told Dublin Circuit Court yesterday that it was "ludicrous" that Ms Tracy Gilligan could have furnished her home with money collected in social welfare payments. The official is assigned to the Criminal Assets Bureau.
It was the second day of an application by Ms Gilligan (daughter of Mr John Gilligan) to have her lone parents' allowance of £78 a week reinstated. The Department of Social Welfare claims Ms Gilligan has been living off the illegitimate drugs earnings of her father.
The Department official, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told Ms Nuala Jackson, counsel for the Department, that John Gilligan purchased a house for Tracy Gilligan at Willsbrook View, Lucan, in March 1995 without relying on a mortgage.
She also received a car from her father in January 1996. She received £20,000 into her Lucan Bank of Ireland account in the same month. At a previous sitting, Ms Gilligan claimed the money came from her father's gambling wins.
The officer said Ms Gilligan withdrew the £20,000 in May 1996, using bank drafts made out to "R. Gorey". She had a second account in Lucan Bank of Ireland which held £5,796 in June 1996.
A £1,500 lodgement into the account was taken from Ms Geraldine Gilligan's (her mother) "Matilda Dunne" account and another £500 from the same account was taken out in cash.
The officer said that in November 1996 he interviewed Ms Gilligan. He asked her if she had contributed any money to the purchase of her home. She replied: "I don't have to tell you that."
He asked her if she had opened any bank accounts since she began claiming lone parents' allowance and she replied that it was none of his business. She said her father bought a car for her and she paid its running costs.
She added that she paid £200£300 motor tax and over £2,000 car insurance a year. The officer told her this was an average spending of £40-£50 a week while she was on a weekly income of £78. She replied that her father helped her out.
The witness said that Ms Gilligan's lone parents' allowance was stopped in December 1996 on his recommendation. Ms Gilligan made a new application for lone parents' allowance in March 1998.
He met her on June 5th, 1998, in the presence of a woman garda. Ms Gilligan told him she was separated from her daughter's father but that he made payments to her for the benefit of his child.
The witness said this payment had not been disclosed when Ms Gilligan made her initial claim for lone parents' allowance. He said he told Ms Gilligan the furnishings in her home were not consistent with someone living on subsistence income.
He said he put it to her that it was a "ludicrous proposition" that she could acquire such furnishings on her official income and she agreed with him.
Defence counsel Mr Padraig Dwyer objected, and said there was no evidence before the court to suggest that Ms Gilligan had agreed with the officer.
The case continues today.