asked the Minister for Justice the number of persons committed to prison in (1) 1987 and (2) 1988 on committal orders for non-payment of debt; and the average time spent in prison by such debtors.
Written Answers. - Committal Orders for Non-Payment of Debt.
111.
The number of people committed to prison in 1987 and 1988 for non-payment of debt was 247 and 235, respectively.
Details of the average time spent in prison in such cases are not readily available and their compilation would require the expenditure of a disproportionate amount of staff time. I can inform the Deputy, however, that the number of people in custody at any given time for non-payment of debt would generally represent less than one per cent of the total number in custody, which indicates that the sentences inposed in such cases are relatively short.