Almost 10,000 jailed over court fine defaults in 2015

Data published by the Irish Examiner shows a 7 per cent rise in the number of committals in 2015 and a 6 per cent rise in the number of people jailed.

A total of 17,223 committals were made involving 14,194 people in 2015, with 9,892 committals related to fine cases.

It is a dramatic increase on 2008, when there were 13,557 committals with only 2,520 related to fine cases.

A prison service spokesperson told the newspaper: “The Irish Prison Service must accept all committals by the courts and does not have the option of refusing same. The increase in committals is simply a reflection of the number of people processed through the courts.”

Fíona Ní Chinnéide, deputy director of the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT), said: “Irish Penal Reform Trust is extremely concerned that a record number of people were sent to prison in 2015, despite legislation introduced in recent years intended to address Ireland’s over-dependence on imprisonment.”

She added: “It is crucial that the next government addresses this significant overuse of prison with a shift to robust and effective community sanctions, including restorative justice schemes, community courts, and the roll out of supported community service programmes nationwide.

“Government should also review the effectiveness of legislation introduced to address the low and inconsistent use of community service orders and the rocketing numbers imprisoned for fines default.”