Crèche worker charged with stealing €117,000 from Loreto Playgroup
By Brendan Grehan
A CRÉCHE worker has been charged with stealing €117,000 from the crèche she worked at in Tallaght over a three-year period.
Avril O’Brien appeared on bail before Judge Patricia McNamara in Tallaght District Court.
O’Brien, aged 49, with an address at Raheen Crescent, Tallaght, is charged with 106 counts of stealing various sums from Loreto Playgroup, Tallaght on dates between 2013 and 2016.
Garda Geraldine Ross told Judge McNamara that there were 106 charges.
She said O’Brien was arrested at Tallaght Garda Station on December 4 last and was later charged with the 106 offences.
Garda Ross said O’Brien made no reply to the 106 charges.
She said the DPP had directed trial on indictment.
O’Brien’s solicitor, Padraig O’Donovan, said his client was applying for legal aid.
Garda Ross said she was objecting to legal aid. She said that O’Brien owns her own home and is in full-time employment.
Mr O’Donovan conceded that his client is working at the moment.
Garda Ross said it will be alleged that the total amount stolen was €117,000.
She added that O’Brien has a mobile home in Co Wexford and “goes on several foreign holidays a year.”
Mr O’Donovan produced a payslip which stated that O’Brien earns €400 euro a week.
Judge McNamara granted legal aid. She remanded O’Brien on continuing bail to a date in February for service of her book of evidence.
