A DISTRICT COURT judge has called for dole payments to be replaced by food vouchers so they cannot be spent on drink and drugs.
Judge Séamus Hughes – who previously sentenced a man to climb Croagh Patrick for insulting a garda – said “more than ninety percent” of young offenders “are not working, are on social welfare and are committing public order offences”. He suggested that many spend their social welfare payments on alcohol and drugs instead of buying “the basic necessities” like food and clothing, according to the Irish Daily Mail (print edition).
“The sooner the day comes that vouchers instead of money is handed out the better,” he told Mullingar District Court. Judge Hughes was hearing the case of an unemployed 25-year-old with an alcohol addiction who was found in contempt of court for disruptive behaviour.
Last year, Judge Hughes sentenced 38-year-old Joseph McElwee to scale the Co Mayo landmark after he called a garda “a Mayo wanker”.
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