Here is how much charities got in the past decade from court poor box donations

The Government is currently reviewing a proposal to abolish the court poor box, replacing it with a new Reparation Fund

A total of 45 court offices around the country operated poor boxes, with Tralee, Co. Kerry, donating the largest proportion of funds. File picture: Dan Linehan

Almost €17 million for charitable causes has been raised from courtrooms across the country in the past 10 years, with almost half coming from Munster courts.

An analysis of poor box donations for the years 2012 to 2021 show that, when combined, the eight regional branches of the Simon Communities of Ireland received €614,822 from the poor box, with more than half of that going to Cork Simon alone (Table at bottom of article).

This was followed by Dublin’s Capuchin Day Centre which received €527,986, the majority of which came from the Criminal Courts of Justice, located just one mile away.

Both charities were outstripped by St Vincent de Paul (SVP), however, with more than €1.1 million going to one of the oldest and largest charities in Ireland.

A spokesperson for SVP welcomed the funds, saying that the total received was not surprising given the charity “operates throughout the country with almost 1,200 local conferences, many of whom would benefit directly”.

A total of 45 court offices around the country operated poor boxes, with Tralee, Co. Kerry, donating the largest proportion of funds – more than €3.3 million. Across Munster more than €7.4m was raised, representing 44% of the €16.8 million given to around 2,500 organisations across the country.

With more than €2.8 million received in total, poverty and homeless charities were among the biggest beneficiaries of the court poor box, which is often used by judges to direct that minor offenders make donations in lieu of a conviction or stricter penalty.

Unfair

Poor box donations are used solely at the discretion of judges and mostly in the district courts. In 2004, the Law Reform Commission described the system as unfair for offenders who cannot afford to pay for donations, often facing convictions and stricter penalties instead. 

They also raised concerns about a lack of accountability regarding how funds raised were spent and recommended that a new system where the money collected went to the victims of crime would be more appropriate.

“Ability to pay shouldn’t have anything to do with a person’s access to justice,” Wayne Stanley of the Simon Communities of Ireland said. “So I think we would be very much in line with the principles of what the Law Reform Commission has set out.

“We do value the donations. It is a significant sum of money and it does go towards our frontline work. But those principles are as valuable, if not more.” When asked why District Court offices in Munster gave €384,655 to Cork Simon alone, Mr Stanley said the charity was “particularly well respected and well known”.

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“They (Cork Simon) would probably work to make sure they would be informing the court of the sort of work they do when they get a donation – it’s about being transparent as well about where the funds go.” 

A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said that the Government is currently reviewing the Criminal Justice (Community Sanctions) Bill 2014, which proposed to abolish the court poor box, replacing it with a new Reparation Fund “to provide for a fair, equitable and transparent system of reparation, applicable only to minor offences, and for the usage of that fund to provide services for the victims of crime.” 

The Department expects to publish the review and any subsequent revisions to the 2014 Bill next year.

Top 20 Charities	Amount received 2012-2021
ST VINCENT DE PAUL	€1,149,344
SIMON COMMUNITIES OF IRELAND	€614,822
CAPPUCHIN DAY CENTRE	€527,986
SIGHTSAVERS INTERNATIONAL	€404,750
CHRISTIAN BLIND MISSION	€394,000
GARDA BENEVOLENT TRUST FUND	€314,260
ETHIOPIA AID	€292,500
FR PETER MCVERRY TRUST	€286,526
MERCHANTS QUAY PROJECT IRELAND	€289,396
OXFAM IRELAND	€271,759
PIETA HOUSE	€267,710
ACTION AID IRELAND	€255,662
SOCIETY OF AFRICAN MISSIONS	€247,000
OUR LADY'S CHILDRENS HOSPITAL CRUMLIN	€186,627
D.15 HOSPICE FUND	€176,685
THE JACK AND JILL CHILDRENS FOUNDATION	€147,783
LAURA LYNN CHILDREN'S HOSPICE FOUNDATION	€136,231
IRISH RED CROSS	€146,916
TEMPLE STREET CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL	€132,281
FOCUS IRELAND	€131,979