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

I thank Deputies for the support they have given to the Bill since its publication and the highly constructive discussions on it in the House. I also thank Senators for the discussions in the other House. In so far as possible, I have tried to take on board comments and suggestions made and believe the Bill, as amended, is the better for it. When work started on it, the initial intention was to amend the Fines Act 2010 simply to provide for the making of attachment of earnings orders. However, as work progressed, it became clear that the entire fines payment and recovery system needed to be reviewed to ensure all of the pieces worked together as an integrated whole. With the passage of the Bill, all of the provisions are now to be found in one place and I am confident that the Bill will provide an appropriate response to the twin problems of the refusal or failure of some people to pay fines imposed on them and the inappropriateness of imprisonment as the automatic response where this happens.

This reform has been necessary for a great many years. There will now be a system in place that is logical and proportionate. Fines will be set at a level that takes into account a person's financial circumstances. All fines of more than €100 can be paid by instalments. Where a person defaults, he or she will be brought back to court where the judge will, first, consider making an attachment of earnings order. Where it is not appropriate to make such an order, the judge will be able to either make a recovery order where the fine is more than €500 or a community service order. Where either an attachment order or a recovery order is made and the fine is still not recovered in full, the court will still have available to it the possibility of making a community service order. Ultimately, imprisonment will only apply where it is not possible to make a community service order or one has been made and the individual required to undertake community service fails to comply with the order made.

Last year more than 8,000 people were imprisoned for the non-payment of fines. I am confident that with the changes to the fines system that will flow from the implementation of this Bill, this number will be greatly reduced. Moreover, as everyone is aware, a system developed during the years under which, in practical terms, few people served any lengthy sentence for the non-payment of fines. The continuation of the current system would bring the law into disrepute and is unfair to individuals who comply with their legal obligations. There will now be in place comprehensive provisions that guarantee the integrity of court orders made, which uphold the justice system in a manner that is appropriate and which seek to ensure individuals who are fined and fail to comply with their legal obligations ultimately will be required to so do. No individual should, through financial difficulty, have a major problem in discharging a fine in circumstances where the level of fine imposed must take into account his or her financial circumstances and in circumstances where fines of more than €100 can be paid by way of instalments.

This is a comprehensive reform of a law that had remained substantially unchanged for well over 150 years in practical terms. It is bringing modern thinking and mechanisms into play, particularly the attachment of earnings process that has proved successful for many years in the family law area where individuals default on maintenance payments, as well as the community service order system in order that those who fail to comply with the law in meeting their financial obligations to pay a fine will be required to pay back to the community something for the crime for which they have been convicted by way of undertaking community service. This will save Garda resources, as well as resources within the Irish Prison Service, and be a far more efficient and effective method to ensure the integrity of court orders when fines are imposed. It is my intention that the provisions of the Bill will become operational as soon as possible. The Courts Service expects to be in a position to accept instalment payments in the autumn and the other provisions such as attachment, recovery and community service will kick in once the default provisions are engaged, probably towards the end of the year or early next year. In the context of implementing the Bill, software and computer changes are being made in the Courts Service to be able to track fine orders made and instalments resulting therefrom.

This is an historic day for the fines payment system. As I stated, for well over a century one either paid a fine or one went to prison for default. That system will end once the Bill is signed by the President and commenced. It will be replaced by a system that is in tune with contemporary Ireland, amenable to the deployment of the latest technologies and, above all, effective.

I again thank Members of this House for the constructive contributions they have made to the debate and the discussions that took place on the Bill. I also thank members of the Oireachtas justice committee for their contributions on Committee Stage and look forward to the Bill coming fully into force.

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