Herbert Kilcline, 60, told gardaí after the fraud came to light that he felt he was entitled to the payments because he had been excluded from compensatory payments made to victims of birth defects caused by the Thalidomide drug. He has since repaid the money in full.

Mr Kilcline told gardai: “I admit it was wrong, no matter how aggrieved I felt. It wasn’t the right way to deal with my grievance.”

He said the deformities suffered to his hands as a result of his mother taking the anti-nausea drug during pregnancy had left him unable to peel vegetables or use a can opener.

Judge Karen O’Connor said Mr Kilcline’s moral culpability was very high, noting the offending was not motivated by financial pressure or gambling, but by a grievance and an element of greed.

She indicated a three-year sentence, with the final one year and three months suspended.

Defence counsel asked Judge O’Connor to defer sentence for one week to allow Mr Kilcline to put his affairs in order. She granted the application and deferred sentencing until next Thursday.

Mr Kilcline pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to obtaining disability allowance on false pretences on dates between 1996 and 2001 and making a gain by deception in relation to social welfare payments on dates between 2004 and 2010.

The total amount fraudulently obtained was €129,293 and the entire period of offending taken into account was from 1996 to 2012.

Mr Kilcline said he was officially diagnosed as a victim of Thalidomide in 1992 but was told that the state compensation scheme was out of time. He then applied successfully for the means-tested disabled persons maintenance allowance.

He was legitimately granted this payment but failed to inform the department when he began working and when his financial situation changed. The court heard that Mr Kilcline worked as a tutor in Trinity College Dublin and had income from the sale of various properties and from rental income from six flats in the city.

Judge O’Connor granted an application from the Law Society for transcripts of the sentencing hearing and later noted this may have an impact on his professional future and reputation.