€400k in fines issued under instalment system

More than 2,000 fines, worth around €400,000, have been paid under a new instalment system created to avoid jailing fine defaulters.

These 2,000 cases are among some 20,000 fines cases dealt with by the courts in 2016, from which almost €5m was collected in total.

The Fines (Payment and Recovery) Act 2014 came into effect on January 11, 2016, when the Courts Service set up a system through An Post by which court-ordered fines could be paid by instalment.