Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

These are essentially drafting amendments. The drafter has decided that subsection (6) of section 14 while correct does not fit comfortably in section 14. Its purpose is to establish the appropriate period of imprisonment when a fine has been partially paid by instalments. This is already achieved in section 17 at the inserted section 2A(3) into the Courts (No. 2) Act 1986 in relation to defaults on fines imposed on indictment.

I now propose to include a similar provision relating to fines imposed on summary conviction into the inserted subsection (1)(b) into the amended section 2 of the 1986 Act. This is a more obvious place for these amendments as the relevant provisions in section 17 already deal with the appropriate periods of imprisonment where the receiver can only recover part of the fine or the proceeds of seized goods that might only satisfy part of the fine.

It is also proposed to add the same definition of "fine" to section 2A of the Courts (No. 2) Act 1986, as is being added to section 2, that is, to ensure that it does not include the fees and expenses of the receiver. These only have a relevance in section 15.