The judge, in confirming the sanction, said the key mitigating factor in the case was the teacher’s gambling addiction.

The court heard that Mary Higgins (62), with an address at Hawthorn Lawn, Castleknock, had spent 12 years attending the school and 24 years working there

A new ESRI report shows Ireland's gambling problem is far worse than previously thought, with 130,000 people considered problem gamblers