Derek Keating (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important legislation and commend the Minister, Deputy Shatter, on its introduction. I concur with many of the points made by previous contributors from both sides of the House in relation to the imprisonment of a person for the non-payment of a fine. It is extraordinarily positive that we are introducing, as part of the modernising of our courts, a system which ensures the payment of fines. It is imperative fines imposed on people found guilty in court of having committed an offence are collected in an efficient and appropriate manner.

The Bill defines a fine as a monetary penalty payable on conviction, depending on the offence. I note from the information received from the Oireachtas Library that compliance in this regard stands at 82%. This means 18% of those on whom a fine is imposed by the courts are not paying. It is disturbing to read from time to time in the media of the judicial discretion exercised by judges. One has only to visit the District Court to see how on a daily basis the system is being abused by those who break the law, be it in respect of a traffic or litter offence or breach of the peace. They often entertain the court in order to obtain a minimum fine which, I suspect, in many cases is not paid.

While I support judges having the discretion to take into account an offender's personal income, including their belongings, personal property and financial commitments to their families or otherwise, I welcome section 6 which promotes the option of the payment of fines by way of instalment. Section 7 deals with failure to pay fines. I am fearful that this will be abused by a small but significant number of people who, given how often they appear before the courts, know the system. If there is one section of the Bill that may require strengthening it is section 3 which deals with recovery orders.

I welcome that a sheriff can be appointed by the courts as a consequence of failure to pay. However, the appointment of a sheriff is a significant step which could be cumbersome and, perhaps, expensive for the State. I welcome sections 14 and 15 which deal with attachment orders. The reality is that it is more expensive now to keep offenders in prison than it is to impose fines on them. There is evidence to indicate that this is being abused. A person can be arrested by a garda in respect of the non-payment of a fine, brought to prison, processed and released within hours. The fine is then written off and the sentence is deemed to have been served, with the offender going on his or her merry way.

I agree with the Law Reform Commission that fines need to be index linked to inflation and that they should vary to take account of the offender's ability to pay. A person who fails to pay a small fine imposed by a District Court in respect of a minor offence should only be imprisoned as a last resort. I agree with the Minister that this legislation will all but eliminate the need to commit people to prison for non-payment of fines. There are many ways to deal with this issue other than the costly and unsuitable procedure of committing a person to prison, which person, very often, will be in and out within hours because of the cost and pressure on prisons and the standard of improvements which the Minister has demanded of the prison services in relation to facilities for those who are serving medium to long term sentences. The reality is that while a fine in respect of the offence of speeding imposed on one person with a large family who is unemployed and dependent on social welfare will have a huge impact on that person and his or her family and its weekly income, a similar fine on a person who is wealthy and has no difficulty writing a cheque to the District Court has no impact. There is much to be learned from this. We need to provide for a scaling of fines relating to a person's wealth.

I agree with the sentiment that justice should not only be done but should be seen to be done.

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