asked the Minister for Justice the names and addresses of the people who paid the fines imposed on farmers who took part in the road blockade; and to whom receipts have been issued.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Payment of Farmers' Fines.
38.
When a person is committed to prison in default of payment of a fine, the Prison Governor has no authority to keep him in custody once payment is tendered to him.
Payments are frequently made in cash and there is no way of authenticating the source of payment. In any event it would be contrary to established practice to publicise particulars of a private matter of this kind.
Is the Minister not concerned to see that persons fined pay the fine? Is a fine meant to be a deterrent?
If Deputy Clinton were aware of the humanitarian and domestic background to many of those situations where fines come to be paid, he would not ask that question.
I take it that the Minister knows who pays the fines in those circumstances?
In some cases the Prison Governor gets a hard luck story with money covering the fine. Sometimes a letter may come from the wife of one of the prisoners or from some relation or it may be from an anonymous person.
Is that what happened in those cases?
Of course, it is.
So the fine was paid anonymously in all those cases of the NFA?
The circumstances in regard to particular fines vary to an infinitesmal degree. It was so in the case of most of the fines which were paid in the case of the NFA. Some of them were paid by people who signed themselves as "relative", "wife" or "mother". They were paid on behalf of one of the people in prison in every case by people who had an interest in seeing that the particular prisoner was released. Receipts were issued.
To whom?
In any case where it was possible to ascertain who the person was who paid the fine the receipt was issued to that person. In some cases, it was easy to ascertain who paid the fine but in other cases, it was not possible to do so. Some anonymous persons signed themselves as "relative,""wife" or "mother." In any case where the name was given the receipt was issued to that person.
So the Minister is only interested in collecting the revenue.
That has been the practice from time immemorial.