I wonder how effective the fines imposed in the Bill will be. The financial penalties proposed originally in the heads of the Bill have been reduced by more than half in the Bill itself. Originally, the fine was €700 and it has now been reduced to €300 or one month in jail. I do not know how somebody who is begging will find €300 when he or she does not have the money and, as I stated previously, the cost of keeping somebody like that in jail is high, even for a period of one month. That is why it is extremely important that the Government deals with the root cause of begging, namely poverty, which might prevent much of what is happening on our streets.

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