Shatter outlines system to deduct unpaid fines directly from wages

The Government has spelled out its plans to cut the number of people going to prison for the non- payment of fines, including the “landmark innovation” of the attachment of earnings for unpaid fines.

Justice Minister Alan Shatter said new legislation, if passed, would make it easier to pay fines, including by installments over a 12-month period, while an administration charge of up to 10% may be applied.

He gave details of the proposal while addressing the Dáil on the Fines (Payment and Recovery) Bill 2013 yesterday.

Mr Shatter said the proposed legislation would aim to restore confidence in the administration of and collection of court- imposed fines, as well as “reducing, to the minimum possible, the number of people committed to prison each year for the non-payment of a fine”.

He told TDs that fines should be set at levels which people could reasonably be expected to pay, and there should be no obstacles to easy payment.

He said: “Fines imposed must be enforced if the system is not to fall into disrepute.”

Under the current system non-payment of a fine by a due date triggers the execution of an arrest warrant and then a committal.

However, he said in reality the person is typically processed through the prison, simply adding to the workload of staff.

“The Prison Service has stated that, of the 242 people imprisoned in 2012 in connection with the non-payment of a television licence fee, 236 were released within hours of their detention. It is common knowledge that imprisonment, in any real sense, for the non-payment of fines is now a rarity.”

He said “strategic defaulters” would end up paying anyway due to the attachment of earnings provision in the new law: “Attachment orders will only be made where it is appropriate to do so, but, where they are made, the fined person’s employer will be required to deduct the amount of the fine from the fined person’s earnings and pay it to the Courts Service.

“This provision will address those ‘strategic defaulters’ if I might borrow a phrase from another arena, who despite being employed and having sufficient resources to pay a fine, don’t do so in the hope that there will be no consequence to their non-payment.”

Another option will be the making of a recovery order by the courts, but only after a court has determined the fined person has the means to pay.

Community service will only be considered by a court after a person has failed to pay a fine and a receiver fails to recover it.

Mr Shatter said: “This bill provides for some flexibility in the method of discharging a fine whilst seeking to ensure that fines imposed are paid. Where a fine remains unpaid, a meaningful sanction applies without imposing an unnecessary administrative burden on an already overloaded legal system and unnecessary expense on the taxpayer.”