Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will not use all the time available to me. I welcome this Bill. Legislation is generally introduced for a positive purpose and we all welcome it. The introduction of the Bill reminds me that the Government and various Departments - in this case, the Department of Justice and Equality - are failing to implement the legislation we have. Much of the Bill deals with the uncommenced sections of the Fines Act 2010. If I check the debate on that legislation, I am sure I will find that everybody welcomed its introduction as a progressive development. It is baffling that the 2010 Act has not been implemented in the last three years.

I welcome the Bill because something needs to be done about the repeat offenders - people with 10, 20 or 30 convictions - who continuously appear before the courts in Dublin and in our large towns. When the free legal aid mechanism becomes operative the barrister or solicitor gives a spiel on behalf of the defendant, the judge listens with a certain amount of compassion and the individual goes out the door to repeat the offence with very little to deter him or her.

It is important to ensure this legislation is implemented as soon as possible. We know from the application of speeding and parking fines that people who are hit in the pocket with €60 fines will be slow to think about parking illegally again. Human nature being what it is, one will take the risk if one is likely to face a fine of €5 or €10, or if there is a chance that one will not be caught. If the fines are sufficiently strong and consistent, and if they take one's circumstances into consideration, they will certainly have an impact.

The report that was compiled in preparation for this legislation states that approximately €14 million in fines was collected in 2012. It refers to a collection rate of 82%, which means that almost 20% of fines are not collected. It can be estimated on the basis of the figures for 2010, 2011 and 2012 that approximately €10 million in small fines has not been collected since 2010. That is almost half of what it costs to run the Seanad for a year.

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