Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will consider introducing reforms to the area of public prosecutions to facilitate plea bargaining by those considered to have committed a crime; the legal obstacles presently to this approach; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10465/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Plea bargaining and the factors that might be relevant to its operation in this jurisdiction were reviewed by the Law Reform Commission in its 1996 Report on Sentencing. The Commission decided against making any recommendations on legislation in the area of plea negotiations.

The current practice is set out in the Director of Public Prosecutions' Guidelines for Prosecutors. I refer the Deputy to chapter 10 of those Guidelines. These Guidelines are available on the Director of Public Prosecution's website.

The criminal law already makes a limited allowance where the defendant enters a guilty plea. Section 29 of the Criminal Justice Act 1999, together with some more specific provisions such as section 27(3D)(b) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977, provide that an early plea of guilty should, as a general rule, be taken into consideration by the court when determining the appropriate sentence (in cases other than where the sentence is fixed by law). I have no plans for legislation to alter the current arrangements.

Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the reason persons are still being imprisoned for non-payment of fines; the reason their fines are not being deducted at source by either the Revenue Commissioners or the Department of Social Protection; and the way he intends to end the situation where significant numbers of prison places are taken up by fine-defaulters. [10467/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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There is no legislative provision for the deduction of fines either by the Revenue Commissioners or the Department of Social Protection, nor does the Government have any plans to legislate to allow for such deductions to be made.

Instead, as the Deputy will be aware, the Government recently approved the drafting of the Fines (Amendment) Bill 2012, the Scheme of which is available on my Department's website (www.justice.ie). The Scheme provides, inter alia, for the introduction of attachment of earnings to recover unpaid fines from a person's earnings. The Scheme also recasts a number of the key provisions in the Fines Act 2010, including those relating to the payment of fines by instalments (section 15). Whereas under the 2010 Act, a person had to apply to the court to be permitted to pay a fine by instalments, the Scheme provides that this will become an automatic right. Given this significant change to the nature and scope of the instalment provisions in the Act, it is not my intention to commence section 15 until after it has been amended. I hope that it will be possible to enact the Fines (Amendment) Bill during 2013.

I can also advise the Deputy that the number of persons in custody at any one time for non payment of fines is but a fraction of the overall prisoner population. To illustrate this point, on 25 February 2013, 22 people (0.05%), out of a prison population of 4,261 in custody that day fell into this category.

I am also committed to pursuing alternatives to custody. The Criminal Justice (Community Service) (Amendment) Act 2011 requires judges when considering imposing a sentence of imprisonment of 12 months or less to first consider the appropriateness of community service as an alternative to imprisonment. It is expected that these measures, taken together, will all but eliminate the need to commit persons to prison for non-payment of fines.