Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for coming in and for their presentation. There have been a number of reports before in respect of the area of penal reform, for example, the Whitaker committee report around 30 years ago and the Oireachtas sub-committee report in 2013. I am conscious that at the end of this process this committee is going to produce a report. It is such a huge area and there is so much academic research. Many of the characteristics of people who are in prison are quite obvious. People come from very similar backgrounds with regard to educational disadvantage. In terms of what we can do as a committee, I would like to hear Ms Ní Chinnéide's views on whether we should just concentrate on two or three areas.

The witnesses have said that there are over 9,800 committals for people who did not pay fines. That is over 50% or 60% of the committals per annum. It is obviously a huge amount. From a political point of view, most people in the country would think that it is a waste of money and that it is wrong that people should go to jail for not paying fines. What would Ms Ní Chinnéide think about the committee focusing on two or three issues, one issue being fines, rather than producing a general report that covers everything? I would also ask what recommendations she would have for us as to how we should deal with the issue of fines? In the case of a minor offence, like a road traffic offence, for which obviously a people should not go to jail, they get a fine. If they do not pay the fine the law is undermined and the effectiveness of the law is lost because people know that at the end of the day nothing happens. One does not go to jail, one does not have to pay a fine. I would be interested to hear what Ms Ní Chinnéide thinks as to how that should be dealt with in terms of fines.

Another area where there seems to be a large prison population, and where the general public would also be sympathetic, is people with drug addictions. Some would have minor drug addictions but come out of prison with major drug addictions. How do we cope with that, bearing in mind that some people who have drug addictions can be convicted for very serious offences?

It is important, and I would be interested to hear Ms Ní Chinnéide's point of view, that obviously we have to try to produce a report that will get broad support so that we can change the law. There is no point in us coming out with a report which the Irish Penal Reform Trust will think is great but which other groups will say is an affront to victims' rights because it is a political issue as well. To look to America, there are victims' rights groups, which are really advocates for the death penalty, and there are prisoners' rights groups. It is important that this committee tries to get somewhere in the middle ground and deal with one or two issues. I would be interested to hear what Ms Ní Chinnéide has to say in respect of fines and individuals who have drug addictions when they are going into prison.