It is the Director of Public Prosecutions who takes prosecutions on behalf of the Health and Safety Authority. These can be taken at two levels in the Courts i.e. on Indictment in the Circuit Court before a Jury and Summarily before a Judge in the District Court.
The Circuit Court can impose fines on conviction up to €3 million per count or imprisonment up to 2 years, while the District Court can have on conviction fines up to €5,000 per count or imprisonment up to 6 months.
Material on the number of court prosecutions initiated in each of the years 2014 to 2018, the result of these court cases and the number and value of fines issued is set out in the table;
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-
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2014
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2015
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2016
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2017
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2018
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Number of court prosecutions initiated
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Cases heard 32
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Cases heard 16
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Cases heard 27
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Cases heard21
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Cases heard 15
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Number cases on Indictment and Summary
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19 on Indictment
13 Summarily
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7 on Indictment
9 Summarily
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19 on Indictment
8 Summarily
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12 on Indictment
9 Summarily
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9 on Indictment
6 Summarily
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Fines imposed by the Courts
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Total fines €293,900
€272,400 Indictment
€21,500 Summarily
3 cases dismissed
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Total fines €541,750
€528,000 Indictment
€13,750 Summarily
1 case dismissed
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Total fines €614,000
€585,000 Indictment
€29,000 Summarily
1 case dismissed
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Total fines €2,695,500
€2,659,00 Indictment
€36,500 Summarily
3 cases dismissed
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Total fines €705,972
€696,872
Indictment €9,100
Summarily
1 case dismissed
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In relation to the value of fines collected and outstanding it should be noted that fines imposed by the Courts do not go to the Health and Safety Authority. Collecting court fines is a matter for the Court Services and the Health and Safety Authority does not have any information regarding fines collected/outstanding.
