Installments for fines to have ‘huge impact’ on jail numbers

The director general of the Irish Prison Service has said that the long-awaited introduction of an installment system to pay court fines will have a “huge impact” on the numbers being sent to jail.

Michael Donnellan noted that more than half of committals to prisons last year were fine defaulters.

New figures show that the number reached a peak in Cork Prison, where more than six out of 10 committals were fine-related.