Over €600k in unpaid fines to Carlow District Court
Court fines
FINES totalling more than €600,000 have not been paid at Carlow District Court, according to a recent report.
The figures were released to Ireland South MEP Cynthia Ní Mhurchú under the . The Carlow native described the extraordinary amount of unpaid district court fines in Ireland as a slap in the face to the victims of their crimes.
Almost €45 million in unpaid district court fines are outstanding across Ireland’s district court system since 2020. Across the state, 133,851 fines have yet to be paid in full in our district court system, with €612,058 of these coming from Carlow District Court.
Ms Ní Mhurchú, who is a former barrister, has called for the issue of unpaid district court fines to be included in the upcoming review of the criminal justice system, which was promised in the 2025 Programme for Government.
Expressing her frustrations with the Courts Services, the MEP said: “What does this say to the victims who have been impacted by crimes such as drink-driving, assault, theft and shoplifting? We are imposing fines that a percentage of criminals are choosing to ignore and it seems there is little we are doing about it.
“€45 million would fund a lot of domestic violence refuges, road safety campaigns and extra gardaí on our streets. It is time for a get-tough approach to those criminals who feel they are above the law. Our road deaths have been rising in Ireland for consecutive years. How can we expect any improvement in that scenario when those fined for traffic offences may choose not to pay the fine?” Ms Ní Mhurchú said that the , which came into force in January 2016, is “clearly not working” in the recovery of outstanding fines.
“Clearly, the Courts Service is not implementing the measures set out in the 2014 act. The act allows measures up to and including taking someone’s social welfare or salary to pay the fines due. Is this being done? The Courts Service will say it takes time to collect fines, but over €2.2m is still owing from 2020 and over €5.5m is still owing from 2021.”
