Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising these important issues. As he will appreciate, judges are independent in the matter of sentencing, as in others concerning the exercise of judicial functions, subject only to the Constitution and the law. In accordance with this principle, the role of the Oireachtas has been to specify in law a maximum penalty and a court, having considered all of the circumstances of a case, imposes an appropriate penalty up to that maximum. The court is required to impose a sentence which is proportionate not only to the crime but also to the individual offender, in that process identifying where in the sentencing range the particular case should lie and then applying any mitigating factor which may be present.

From time to time, issues arise with consistency in sentencing and the sentences imposed in high profile or particularly sensitive cases. As Minister for Justice and Equality, I cannot enter public discourse on individual cases. It is ultimately for the judge to impose sentence taking into account all relevant factors. However, I draw attention to an important safeguard, the power of the Director of Public Prosecutions to apply to the Court of Criminal Appeal to review a sentence she regards as unduly lenient.

The Law Reform Commission has recently published a report on mandatory sentencing. Separately, I have established a strategic review group to consider penal policy, including sentencing policing. I expect the group to report later this year and intend to publish its report. The group will take account of the recommendations of the Law Reform Commission's report in its deliberations and both reports will be considered in due course.

I turn to the separate but related issue raised by the Deputy, that of fines. Fines are the most commonly imposed sentence in the courts and I am pleased to say that subject to the approval of the Government, the fines (payment and recovery) Bill will be published next week. The overall objective of the Bill is one that I am sure is shared by the Deputy and most in this House. That objective is to reduce and, to the greatest extent possible, eliminate the need for judges to commit anyone to prison for the non-payment of fines. Last year around 8,300 people were sent to prison for the non-payment of fines. They comprised the vast majority of those sentenced to short sentences by the courts and committed to prisons in 2012. The resources expended by all involved in the justice system is staggering, from the Judiciary to the Garda Síochána to the Courts Service to the prisons, at a time when resources are at a premium. Prison is not the answer to the non-payment of a fine, except in exceptional cases.

None of this is to say I am sanguine about the non-payment of fines. For the justice system to work, it must have the capacity to detect crime, prosecute offenders and, where they are convicted by the courts, ensure compliance with whatever sanction the courts impose. Where fines are concerned, this means collecting the fine. It is regrettably the case that a significant minority of around 30% of fines are not paid. The fines (payment and recovery) Bill seeks to address this issue in a number of ways that avoid the need to send defaulters to prison. It provides that everyone can pay a fine by instalments over 12 months and, where a person is in default, an attachment order may be made requiring his or her employer to collect the fine and pay it over to the courts. The Bill also provides that community service orders may be imposed in all cases of non-payment.

I am confident that the proposals contained in the coming Bill will achieve a significant reduction in the committal to prison for the non-payment of fines, while protecting the principle that sentences imposed by the courts must be served. Where this involves a fine, the fines payment and recovery system will strive to collect the fine either from the person's income or assets and, failing this, will impose community service on the person.

I note that the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court recently suggested that where road traffic tickets were issued and not paid, that a system might be put in place to provide for the recovery of outstanding payments through road tax. This is an issue I intend to raise with the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Leo Varadkar, within whose remit the Road Traffic Acts fall, with a view to seeing if a system in this area be considered and put in place. I am conscious that circumstances may arise where fixed ticket charges are issued by mistake, issued to the wrong person or someone who does not own the vehicle, or there may be extenuating circumstances. It is a more complex issue than may otherwise have been assumed, as there are many instances where proceedings may not be appropriate in respect of road traffic matters and if all tickets issued automatically attached to someone's annual road tax, justice could be done. It is a very interesting proposal to which I am giving some consideration, following discussions with the Minister, Deputy Leo Varadkar.

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