Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On that matter, I saw the figures and they are quite frightening. Between 2008 and 2010, the number of people arrested for non-payment of fines increased from 2,500 to 6,500, even in that short timeframe. In fact, over 50% of all arrests for committal to prison, where people are going into the prison system, are for non-payment of fines. That will all stop, and rightly so. It has been a huge waste of Garda time as well. At least now we are setting up the proper structures to deal with this through attachment of earnings. Hopefully, it will reduce the amount of Garda time spent on this matter, which is welcome. It is a change that is long overdue. I thank the Minister and the Department for the work they have done in that area.