Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 5 November 2015

Public Accounts Committee

Annual Report and Appropriation Accounts of the Comptroller and Auditor General 2014
Vote 21: Prisons
Vote 24: Department of Justice and Equality
Chapter 9: Development of Prison Accommodation in Dublin

10:00 am

Mr. Noel Waters:

I agree entirely. Of course, were it a regular event that the entire criminal justice apparatus was to gather in a court and someone was brought before it charged with a serious offence only for that person to not show up and were there no consequences for that individual, clearly this would have the most serious consequences. It would be negating entirely very good work by other agencies in the criminal justice system. In the finish, however, if somebody is directed to appear in court and does not do so, there is a number of options open to the judge in court, such as directing that the individual be arrested under a bench warrant-----