Vol. 490 No. 2
266 Mr. Higgins (Mayo) asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the arrangements, if any, employed by the Garda Síochána for the delivery to prison of persons incarcerated for the non-payment of fines and civil debts. [10091/98]
I am informed by the Garda authorities that they have no discretionary power in the execution of warrants and are bound by the command contained therein. The particular arrangements whereby the Garda Síochána transport the person to prison depends on factors such as geographical location and availability of official Garda transport.
267 Mr. Higgins (Mayo) asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of persons imprisoned for non-payment of fines and of civil debts for each of the years from 1993 to 1997. [10092/98]
The number of persons committed to prison in default of fines, for non-payment of debts, default of sureties and contempt of court was 2,157 in 1993 and 2,443 in 1994. Figures are not yet available for later years. Having said that these are the figures for committals to prison, I should point out that at any one time those prisoners represent only about 1 per cent of the total prison population.
268 Mr. Higgins (Mayo) asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the total cash amount of fines, the non-payment of which led to the imprisonment of persons for each of the years from 1993 to 1997. [10093/98]
The information sought by the Deputy is not available and the resources which would be necessary to extract it from manual records could not be justified.
