Michael Finucane (Fine Gael)

I second Senator Ryan's amendment to the Order of Business. I also want to briefly refer to the Limerick experience which has been spoken about. We have worse problems in Limerick than having to put a great-grandmother into prison over a dog fine. The contrast in the system can be seen with the deployment of resources. We read in the newspapers today that six gardaí took a lamb from the back of a house and put it in another location. However, we also saw the harrowing pictures of the man from Donegal and his experience of thugs who broke into his house. In that context, it may not have everything to do with policing and something to do with the community. Something is happening in Irish society when people resort to these horrendous crimes accompanying burglaries.

There is a concern in rural Ireland regarding policing that is not just confined to County Donegal. We have to look at the deployment of resources. Are they deployed effectively? In the type of shift systems which operate in most urban communities, are gardaí deployed effectively at the times when crimes are more likely to occur? This has implications for rural policing.

Rather than the Minister talking about increasing the number of prison places, he should look seriously at a situation where up to 1,000 people a year are in prison because of non-payment of fines. It has been advocated over the years by various reports that fines should be paid in instalments in order to ensure they are paid. In many cases, the fines imposed by the courts are quite steep in terms of the offence committed. I am amazed that this has not been looked at.