Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Fianna Fáil welcomes the thrust of the Bill, which draws on the 2010 Act passed by the former Minister for Justice and Law Reform, Dermot Ahern. However, we have a number of specific concerns which we would like the current Minister to address. We are of the view that there should be an extension of payment instalments period beyond the 12 month timeframe to accommodate large fines and those who may struggle to pay. Imprisonment costs the State money, with 7,500 people imprisoned annually for not paying fines. That represents a significant cost upon the State and is a personal trauma for the individuals involved. The administrative surcharge on fines should be the instalment method and should not be added to by a punitive interest rate, which is mean spirited and which hits those who are least able to pay fines hardest. Attachment of earnings orders, which involve fines being deducted directly from wages, should be a last resort. These orders place an unfair administrative burden on employers and will damage the working relationship between employers and the recipients of fines. They may have the perverse and unfair effect of undermining the employment prospects of the recipient of a fine with his or her firm.

Community service should be used in circumstances where people do not have the means to pay fines and should be used to replace the imprisonment mechanism. Statistics show that there has been a slow but progressive increase in the prison population and a sharp rise in the daily average number of persons in custody during the past decade. This appears to show a slow increase in prison numbers, which has been exacerbated by an increase in the number of people imprisoned for minor offences but which has been held back by overcrowding. For example, in 2009, there were 10,865 committals under sentence. This represented an increase of 35% on 2008. Of those 10,865 committals, 9,216, or 85%, were for sentences of 12 months or less. By comparison, 1,667 individuals were issued with community service orders in 2009.

It is clear that prison does not always act as a deterrent and that it has a negative impact on prisoners. Research appears to indicate that short prison sentences act neither as a deterrent nor as a means of rehabilitating offenders. An article by UCD academics, entitled Recidivism in the Republic of Ireland, concludes that offenders sentenced to prison terms of less than six months have high rates of reoffending. Utilising alternative methods to reduce the prison population and administrative burden are important in the context of tackling the pressure under which the Prison Service is operating and addressing the issue of recidivism.

Paying fines by instalments is provided for in section 6. The broad effect of this is to introduce a much more comprehensive system and set of details relating to the fines process along with allowing for an administrative fee. The provisions of the Bill would give the choice to the person fined and the court has to inform such a person of his or her options. This would apply to fines of more than €100 and fines would have to be paid in full within one year. The Minister can fix an administration fee generally to fines but this fee cannot exceed 10% of the total fine. This administrative fee should not be placed as a further burden to fine levels which inflict a further punishment on recipients. This is the duty of the courts and not the Minister. The fee should reflect a realistic costs analysis of how much the new instalment system will cost to implement.

The Bill adds the new option of an attachment of earnings order. Recovery orders and community service were provided for under the 2010 Act, but the sections allowing for this have not yet been commenced. The key issue is that these alternatives are employed to avoid a jail sentence. The Bill changes the system of community service to provide that failure to pay a fine can merit a court sentence of community service. This was envisioned in the Fines Act 2010, although section 18 of that Act was never commenced. The level of community service will be based on the scale of the fine and how much has been paid to date.

It is an important part of rebalancing our justice system towards rehabilitation and making a contribution towards communities that we utilise community service rather than imprisonment. Increasing the use of community service delivers financial savings, diverts from the prison system offenders who would otherwise be imprisoned, and provides reparation in the form of unpaid work to the benefit of the community.

The Irish Penal Reform Trust has estimated that imprisoning fine defaulters costs the State more than €2 million per year in courts, Garda and prison service resources compared with the costs of making the necessary upgrades to the courts IT system to process payments by instalment, estimated at €400,000. It is vital that the Government accelerates the IT upgrades necessary to facilitate the new payments structure.

Fianna Fáil welcomes the Bill and asks that the Minister takes into account the issues we have raised. The Bill makes much more sense and is a sensible approach to addressing the issue and avoiding situations where people face draconian prison sentences and must serve short terms in prison which are totally disproportionate to the offences committed.

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