Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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217. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of bench warrants issued for fines not paid under the Fines Act 2010 by county in each of the years 2014 to 2018, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10268/19]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware, under the provisions of the Courts Service Act 1998, management of the courts is the responsibility of the Courts Service, which is independent in exercising its functions, which include the provision of information on the courts system.

However, in order to be of assistance to the Deputy, I have had enquiries made and the Courts Service has provided information in the manner in which the statistics are readily available.

The Fines (Payment and Recovery) Act 2014 was enacted in 2014 and commenced on 11th January 2016. The Act provided that when a Judge imposed a fine, he or she could fix the amount and the time allowed for payment.  If the fine remained unpaid the fined person had to be brought back to court where the judge could then make an order for attachment of earnings, for community service or (if the fine was greater than €500, a recovery order). If the fined person did not appear for the enforcement hearing, the judge could issue a bench warrant.

Because of the extensive technical changes that had to be made to Courts Service systems, the first enforcement hearings (i.e. hearings for fixing a default because the fine wasn't paid) were not scheduled until  late 2017.  Therefore no bench warrants relating to the Fines Act were issued in 2014, 2015 or 2016.

The number of bench warrants does not equate to the number of fines. A fined person might be summoned back to court on the same day for multiple fines. If the fined person does not  appear for the hearing, one bench warrant will issue. There will not be a separate bench warrant for each fine.

Report on the number of bench warrants issued under the Fines Act

Note: A bench warrant may cover a number of offences for that defendant but report only displays one offence.

Jan -  Dec 2017

Jan – Dec 2018