Vol. 493 No. 2
169 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the proposals, if any, he has to increase and strictly enforce fines for non-violent offences and use the extra resources for a compensation fund for victims of crime; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15486/98]
As per An Action Programme for the Millennium, the Government is fully committed to ensuring that the needs of victims are central to dealing with the issue of crime.
On the question of compensation for victims, a scheme already exists for the compensation of victims of crime. Exchequer funds are voted annually for the purpose and they are administered by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal. In 1997 the tribunal paid out almost £4 million in compensation to the victims of crime.
The Deputy will also be aware that it has long been the practice that court fines are channelled into the Exchequer or in certain circumstances the appropriate Department or office depending on the offence for which the fine was imposed, e.g. fines imposed for fishing offences are transferred to the Department of the Marine and Natural Resources and fines for revenue offences are transferred to the Revenue Commissioners. I have no proposals at present to redirect this funding.
