O’Donoghue cut 42 court fines after pleas

POLITICIANS, charities and members of the public successfully petitioned Justice Minister John O’Donoghue to reduce or clear court fines during his five years in charge.

The minister’s power of clemency was used 42 times since 1998, according to documents released under the Freedom of Information Act.

In 1999, a Galway defendant was fined £500 after he was caught with a glass of poitín.

He had his fine reduced to £200 after a petition from former Justice Minister Máire Geoghegan-Quinn.

Noel Dempsey TD submitted a petition on behalf of a constituent who was fined £600 for having no car insurance and displaying no tax.

The person involved was separated, had seven children and had a house repossessed. The fine was reduced to £350.

The other politicians who petitioned successfully on behalf of constituents were Brian Cowen TD, former Fianna Fail TD Tom Moffat and Labour senator Michael Calnan.

A deserted wife made a personal petition after she was fined £200 for not having a TV licence.

The fine was reduced to £10 after it was found that she had “two children, depression, two suicide attempts and very poor financial circumstances.”

The Vincent De Paul petitioned on behalf of a Dublin man who lost all his possessions when his house burnt down. His TV licence fine was reduced from £60 to £10.

The Minister for Justice is only permitted to reduce or clear court fines sparingly and in rare and exceptional circumstances.

These rules were imposed after a 1995 High Court case against former Justice Minister Máire Geoghegan-Quinn.

While minister, she had reduced fines, among others, for a man who had been convicted of drunken driving, having no car insurance and failing to stop.

More than 5,000 petitions for clemency were arriving at the Department of Justice annually Justice Geoghan said Ms Geoghegan-Quinn had acted wrongly in cutting four fines imposed by a district court judge and said it was not right to exercise a “a parallel system of justice”.

There were just 80 petitions to the Minister for Justice last year. Justice Minister Michael McDowell has not used the power of clemency since taking office.

Fine Gael TD Gay Mitchell said he had recently petitioned the Minister for Justice for the first time in years, on behalf of a low income carer who got a parking fine and needed more time to pay.

But he admitted there was a need for more transparency in the petitions system.

“It should be policed by the Ombudsman who could decide whether the appeal was granted on the basis of principle rather than the basis of who you know.”