Frank Fahey (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

——the fines system in our courts. The operation of the first part of the strategy will determine how the other issues will be approached in a second Bill. There are a wide range of issues to be resolved with the courts and the Department of Social and Family Affairs. Nevertheless, it is clear that the provisions in the Fines Bill should reduce the number of persons imprisoned for default because they did not have the resources to pay a fine imposed by the courts. It should be noted, however, that the numbers in custody for non-payment of fines generally represent less than 0.1% of the available accommodation at any one time. For example, of 3,130 persons in custody on 3 January, six were in custody for non-payment of fines. However, I take on board the points made by Deputy English. In such cases, there must be a better way to proceed than that offered under the existing system.

With regard to the cost of prisons, I wish to point out that the introduction of video link facilities in the Bill for certain court hearings will increase the cost-effectiveness of the Prison Service and result in substantial savings. While it is not possible to accurately estimate the possible savings at this point — the figure depends on issues such as the scope of the hearings that can be dealt with by video link and on the lead-in period for full acceptance of the facility by members of the Judiciary, as well as on other factors — I am in a position to state that the committee on video conferencing, which reported in January 2005, was advised at the time that the cost in one year of transporting prisoners from Cork Prison to High Court sittings at Cloverhill Prison and to Cork District Court was just under €300,000. That is just one example relating to one prison but it gives a good idea of the extent of the savings we might expect.

No one would disagree with the points raised by Deputy Michael D. Higgins. While some of them are not directly related to the Bill, he has again raised issues that are extremely pertinent and in respect of which I fully concur with him.

It is good that the Bill has in general been supported by Deputies. While it is not possible on Second Stage to go into significant detail about all of the measures in a Bill or the issues raised, these can be discussed further on Committee Stage. I again thank Deputies for their contributions and I commend the Bill to the House.

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