Hundreds jailed for non-payment of fines
The number of people in Galway who were sent to prison for non-payment of fines surged in the space of just 12 months.
New figures show the number of people in Galway jailed for not paying a fine, almost double in a year – from 187 in 2012 to 342 in 2013.
There were a further 167 people in Galway jailed in the first four months of 2014 for failing to pay fines. In April of that year, new legislation was enacted that sought to eliminate the need to jail people for non-payment of fines.
The figures show that over a 28 month period from January 2012 to April 2014, some 696 people in Galway were incarcerated for failing to pay fines.
Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald said the aim of the new legislation is to “effectively eliminate the need for judges to commit anyone to prison for the non-payment of a fine”.
Minister Fitzgerald added: “As well as introducing an option for persons to pay fines by instalment, there are also changes in the way those who fail to pay fines are dealt with, with a range of options available to judges including recovery orders, attachment of earnings, community service and ultimately imprisonment.”
She said the Courts Service is making arrangements that would allow people to pay their fines in a range of places, not just at Courts Service offices.
“There are significant changes in information technology required to ensure that the instalment payment system operates effectively and that the necessary accounting procedures are in place for the recording of payments,” she said.