Nearly £20 million in court fines remain unpaid in Northern Ireland, Justice Minister Claire Sugden has revealed.

Ms Sugden was asked in the Northern Ireland Assembly to provide a breakdown of outstanding fines and monetary penalties imposed for non-payment.

However, she warned that record-keeping structures are being upgraded due to the implementation of the new Fine Collection and Enforcement Service by next year.

She said: “The plans for the new Fine Collection and Enforcement Service are in an advanced stage and as such existing management information reports are being upgraded. Therefore it is not currently possible to provide all of the information sought.

“The total value of fines and other monetary penalties imposed by the court, broken down by Court Division and which remain outstanding at 30 September 2016 are set out in the table below. This includes sums which have not yet reached the payment due date.

“It is anticipated that the new Service will be operational by early 2017 however it may be possible to produce more detailed data in advance of that pending the conclusion of the upgrade exercise.”

The figures provided by Ms Sugden include a breakdown as follows: