Mr. Noel Waters:

We see the fines legislation as a big development for the Prison Service and the justice system. In 2016, approximately 8,300 people were committed to prison for non-payment of fines. The year before that the number was almost 10,000. Most of those are brought to the prison, turned around and let go. Mr. Donnellan can talk about that process. That is a huge administrative burden, apart from the message it sends to the system. Legislation was passed in 2015 which was operational in January 2016. We already see a small impact as the number has fallen from almost 10,000 to 8,300. The life cycle of a fine ordinarily is between one and three years. We expect the number to decrease further in the next two to three years. Under the old system people were fined €300 for not having a television licence or not taxing their cars and were given three months in prison in default. That has gone. The first option now is to pay instalments. Last year approximately 2,000 people opted to do that.