David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 13: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the sections of the Fines Act 2010 which remain to be implemented; the progress in relation to implementation of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16792/11]

Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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Question 29: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will provide an update on the progress made to update the court IT system to facilitate the payments of fines in instalments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16726/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 13 and 29 together.

All of the Fines Act 2010 has been implemented except for two sections.

Section 15 will, when introduced, provide an option for the payment of fines in excess of €100 by instalment. It will allow a person on whom such a fine has been imposed to make an application to the court to discharge the payment in this way. If the court is satisfied that a single sum payment by the due date would cause financial hardship, it can direct that the fine be paid over a period of 12 months or, in exceptional circumstances, over a two-year period.

Section 16 when commenced, will require a judge, consequent on determining that a fine is to be imposed, to make an order appointing "an approved person" to recover the fine in the event of it not being paid.

For these provisions to operate effectively it will be essential to accurately track which instalment payments have been made or which are in default. This requires significant enhancement to the courts' ICT systems as well as the appointment of approved persons as receivers. I intend to commence the provisions when this work can be completed. The Courts Service has completed a scoping project to identify the detail and cost of the necessary work and I expect to discuss the timescale for implementation with the chief executive in the near future.

It should be stressed that section 14 of the 2010 Act, which was commenced from 4 January last, places an obligation, for the first time, on the court to take account of the defendant's financial circumstances before a fine is imposed - this is something of which the courts were not required to take account in the past. With the commencement of this provision, no person can be sent to prison for default solely for the reason that he or she cannot afford to pay a fine.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for that response. Can he give a more definitive timescale regarding the tender system in place? When does he expect to see the IT upgraded?

Can he tell us how many people were imprisoned in 2010 for not paying fines and how many have been in prison to date in 2010?

Can the Minister tell us the total value of fines for the past 12 months, how much of this was collected and how much is outstanding? I understand the Minister may not have those figures here but if he would give them to me at a later stage, I would appreciate it.

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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An unfortunate difficulty with this legislation, which, in fairness, was enacted by the previous Government and had support from the Opposition side of the House at the time, is that no arrangements were put in place in advance of the legislation's enactment to ensure that the software that the courts system required to operate the provisions on the payment of fines by instalments would be readily available, and we have had to start that work. I was surprised to discover that was the position. It is in the public interest that we have this instalment system. It is in the interests of ensuring the integrity of court orders is maintained.

I do not want to give an unrealistic timeframe because there are cost issues in putting in place the software system. I expect within a relatively short period, because I have had a number of conversations with officials within my Department on this issue, to have a clear view of the timeframe. I am disappointed it has not proved possible to start on the instalment issue much earlier.

I have the other information Deputy Staunton sought available and will provide it to him in writing so that I do not get into time trouble again.

Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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I will be brief.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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We are coming to a close and I want to get to the question of Deputy Boyd Barrett, who has been sitting there.

Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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I will not be 30 seconds.

As the Minister will be aware, I am new to this House and I do not know exactly the way this matter works. I would imagine that some sort of cost analysis would be done on any legislation which comes before the House. It is surprising that the Government enacted legislation which it knew would involve a cost-----

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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A question, please.

Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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-----which was not included. Will the Minister ensure that a cost analysis is done with all legislation coming from the Department?

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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In the context of current Government procedures, we are supposed to do a cost analysis. My Department did not have available the information, when I last asked, as to what the costing of this will be. A scoping exercise has been done since I have been appointed as Minister and I expect within a short time to have the detail of the outcome of that from my officials as to its likely cost. It will give me an opportunity to assess whether the funding is available to me within the Department in this year's Estimates to meet that expenditure and if it is not, I will tell the House. If it is, I hope we can advance this with some speed because it is in the public interest that we do so.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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