Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)

The Minister referred to section 14 in saying people who were unable to pay fines should not be going to prison, but, unfortunately, he knows as well as I do that that is not the case. It is unfortunate that implementation will take so long. What is the cost of introducing this system? Section 14 requires judges to take people's financial circumstances into account. As the Minister said, nobody who is unable to pay a fine should be sent to prison. That should be the message sent.

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