8,965 jailed for failing to pay court fines

Almost 9,000 people, the equivalent of one every hour, were jailed last year for failing to pay fines, despite a Dáil call last April for a blanket ban on the practice.

Coalition backbencher Fergus O’Dowd made the call during a Dáil debate on prison overcrowding, which also heard Independent TD Mick Wallace insist no woman should be jailed for any crime, and admit he was given community service for an unspecified offence.

Speaking during a wide-ranging discussion yesterday, Fine Gael’s Mr O’Dowd said a report by the Dáil justice committee, chaired by party colleague David Stanton, had highlighted grim prison service flaws.