Eugene Regan (Fine Gael)

I support this amendment. The Minister spoke about leaving discretion to the court to decide. This is one case where it can be left to the court to decide what is appropriate. This limit is regressive. In a way, it runs contrary to the purpose of the Bill which is to deal with situations where people find themselves unable to pay fines and face the threat of committal to prison. It does not add to the Bill to have this cut off point. It could be left to the court to exercise its discretion in how it determines the fines and how they are to be paid.