Eamonn Maloney (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The number of people jailed for the non-payment of fines has increased by 82% which the Minister will agree is nothing short of substantial and alarming. We as legislators must delve into this. I strongly suspect this increase is related to the economic climate. Considering the small financial quantities of some fines, why would someone bother going to jail if they had the wherewithal to pay them?

There may be another view on that issue, but it probably relates to working class people who find themselves in a bad place and if they do not have the money, they find themselves in a place where they should not be. That is something legislators should address.

We should also be concerned that 60% of all District Court cases involve road traffic offences. It is interesting that the Courts Service has called for fines for these offences to be included in road taxes. I do not know what the Minister's view on this is, but it should be explored. District Courts administer justice, yet 60% of the work relates to road traffic offences. Surely there must be another way to deal with this issue rather than jamming up court proceedings.

The issue of sentencing aggravates all citizens of the State, particularly when cases arise where the ordinary man or woman on the street recognises that there is an injustice and nowhere does it agitate people more than in the case of sentencing for sexual crimes, which are violent crimes against women. There is a difficulty with section 6 of the Criminal Justice Act 1993 which allows for compensation to be paid. Without citing recent cases with which we are familiar, this raises the question that if somebody has money and engages in this kind of dreadful act, he can buy himself out of the crime. Most citizens of the State would not agree to this, but we inherited a justice system which is not our own and we have to deal with it as it is.

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