ALMOST 130 people per week, or 6,683 annually are being sent to prison for non-payment of fines at a time of record population and overcrowding in the State’s prisons, the Prison Officers’ Association annual conference was told yesterday.
The conference in Kilkenny was told imposing custodial sentences for non-payment of fines was “ludicrous” and placing enormous strain on the system.
President of the association Stephen Delaney told Minister for Justice Alan Shatter that non-custodial alternatives need to be developed and additional prison spaces “and not just new beds” are needed.
He called on Mr Shatter to implement the Fines Act which provides payment on an instalment basis as an alternative to a custodial sentence.
Mr Shatter said a “computer difficulty” had arisen in relation to the implementation of the Act and while he hoped it would be sorted out as soon as possible, he could not give a definite date.
While the number of those sent to prisons for non payment of fines was almost 7,000 in the last year, the number of prisoners in custody or on temporary release is less than 6,000.