Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 May 2010
62 Deputy Olivia Mitchell asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of persons that were imprisoned for failure to pay fines and civil debts in 2009; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19455/10]
View answerThe number of such persons actually held in custody at any one time for failure to pay fines and civil debts is a minute fraction of the overall prisoner population. To illustrate this point, 0.2% of the prison population on 10 May 2010 fell into this category. I expect the number of committals for non-payment of fines to fall substantially once the Fines Bill 2009 has been enacted and brought into force. The information requested by the Deputy will be included in the Irish Prison Service Annual Report 2009 which is due to be published shortly. However, I can advise the Deputy that provisional figures collated suggest that the number of committals solely for failure to pay fines and civil debts in 2009 was 4,806 and 162 respectively.
