Court fine defaulters reach record levels and made up 60% of all jail cases in 2015
There were almost 10,000 cases of people being jailed for failing to pay court fines in 2015 – an almost four-fold increase on 2008 levels.
They accounted for nearly six out of 10 of the 17,200 prison committals in 2015, which comprised some 14,200 people — the highest number of people ever jailed.
Prison bosses believe the long-awaited implementation of a system for paying court fines by installment, introduced at the start of this year, will “dramatically reduce” numbers being jailed.
Irish Prison Service figures show a 7% rise in the number of committals in 2015 and a 6% jump in people jailed (some people are committed twice in a year).
The figures also show that committals of women rose faster last year than men. The figures reveal: n17,319 committals (13,952 people) in 2011 — involving 7,514 fine-defaulting cases. n 17,026 committals (13,860 people) in 2012 — 8,305 fine cases. n 15,735 committals (13,055 people) in 2013 — 8,121 fine cases. n 16,155 committals (13,408 people) in 2014 — 8,979 fine cases. n 17,223 committals (14,194 people) in 2015 — 9,892 fine cases. n In 2008, there were 13,557 committals and just 2,520 cases for fine defaulting.
“The Irish Prison Service must accept all committals by the courts and does not have the option of refusing same,” a prison service spokesman said.
“The increase in committals is simply a reflection of the number of people processed through the courts.”
There was a dramatic rise in prison committals between 2007 and 2010, from 11,934 to 17,179, before falling significantly between 2012 and 2013.
Parallel with this has been a steady rise in the number of women being sent to prison, increasing by a further 10% last year, to 3,415 committals.
The prison service spokesman said it welcomed the commencement of the Fines Act. A new fine payment system — operated by An Post on behalf of the Courts Service — comes almost six years after laws allowing for installment payments were first introduced.
“This piece of legislation will dramatically reduce the number of committals to prison,” the spokesman said. “Fines committals for 2014 were almost 9,000 out of a total of 16,155 committals and 9,892 out of 17,223 in 2015.”
Last year’s figure for fine defaulters is provisional.
Processing fine defaulters in and out of jail is a labour-intensive procedure, given most are released either within hours or days.
“The amount of time spent in processing fine defaulters can now be diverted to other services and programmes for prisoners. Prison should only be used as a last resort,” the spokesman said.
He added: “It is important to note that there are a significant number of warrants still to be processed in relation to fines and it may be a number of months before the Prison Service see an actual reduction.”
Irish Penal Reform Trust deputy director Fíona Ní Chinnéide said: “Irish Penal Reform Trust is extremely concerned that a record number of people were sent to prison in 2015, despite legislation introduced in recent years intended to address Ireland’s over-dependence on imprisonment.”
She added: “It is crucial that the next government addresses this significant overuse of prison with a shift to robust and effective community sanctions, including restorative justice schemes, community courts, and the roll out of supported community service programmes nationwide.
“Government should also review the effectiveness of legislation introduced to address the low and inconsistent use of community service orders and the rocketing numbers imprisoned for fines default.”
