Family of disappeared Donegal woman could face 88,000 euro bill

The family of a woman who was found dead more than two years after she disappeared from a Bray nursing home is being pursued by the Department of Social Protection for €80,000 amid claims she received too much in pension payments.
78 year old Maura Reynolds, originally from Donegal, disappeared from the Tara Care Centre on Putland Road, Bray, Co Wicklow, on the night of Christmas Day 2005.
Despite extensive searches her remains were not discovered until February 19th, 2008, in dense undergrowth at Bray Head.
She had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and cancer.
It has now emerged that the Department of Social Welfare wrote to the Reynolds family last year claiming their late mother had failed to disclose her full means when applying for a non-contributory pension in 1993.
It sought to recoup more than €88,000 from her estate, saying she had not declared she had about €7,000 worth of CRH shares and an account in Ulster Bank in Co Tyrone.
Mrs Reynolds family are contesting the departments claims.