Covid breakers pay the price

More than 1,300 people were slapped with fines for breaching Covid-19 restrictions in County Galway during the pandemic lockdowns, new figures confirm.

As the first Covid-restriction-free Christmas since 2019 approaches, Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee has confirmed that almost 800 of those fines were issued to people in Galway who had breached Covid travel restrictions.

In a parliamentary response to questions tabled by Aontú, and seen by the Connacht Tribune, Minister McEntee confirmed that some €133,180 has been collected by Gardaí in Galway for Fixed Charge Penalty Notices issued for breaches of Covid-19 restrictions.

The money recouped was for 1,338 fines issued to 1,317 people in Galway from November 27 2020 to February 6 2022.

Some €41,800 of the revenue raised related to fines issued to 794 people who breached travel restrictions.

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