Ms Angela Denning:

Mr. Fallon said earlier that the policy direction of the legislation was to keep people out of custody for matters such as not paying a fine for not paying their television licence, where people genuinely could not meet the fine. The way the legislation was shaped has created another lacuna where, if the person does not attend, the judge has no power other than to issue a bench warrant and for the Garda to bring the person to court, which drains other resources of the State.