*Cathal Crowe. Photograph: Joe Buckley
A CLARE TD has reported to Gardaí two individuals for a TV licence scam which occurred in Ennis.
Deputy Cathal Crowe (FF) made the report to Ennis Garda Station on Friday after becoming aware of an incident on Thursday night whereby homes on the Gort Rd were visited by a man and woman claiming to be a TV licence inspector.
Elderly residents were deliberately targeted as part of the scam whereby the duo claimed “in light of the Ryan Tubridy payment controversy there was an escalation of licence inspections”.
Meelick native Crowe has described the incident as “bizarre” but was left stunned when constituents informed him that his name was used by the pair trying to take money off Ennis residents.
He stated, “the man accompanying the woman, when asked to identify himself, said he ‘works with Cathal Crowe TD’ and was assisting in identifying homes. The couple stayed chatting on the doorstep of a number of elderly residents and were overheard asking”.
According to Crowe, the pair managed to obtain access to some homes but he was unsure if they took money off any households in the county town. “The whole thing sounds ridiculous but I think the use of my name, along with some pseudo-political chat, kept some engaged in chat. It goes without saying, this is an outright scam and has nothing to do with me or my office team”.
TV licence inspectors when they are carrying out checks never ask or take money off the public and instead only request to see if the household has a television.
