Over €300,000 in district court fines remain unpaid in County Roscommon

Over €300,000 in district court fines remain outstanding in County Roscommon, according to figures released under Freedom of Information.

A total of 839 fines, valued at €319,692 have not been paid over the last five years, with the largest amount being recorded in 2022 at €96,214 reflecting 255 unpaid fines.

Not surprisingly the lowest amount recorded was in 2020 during the Covid lockdown with 39 fines unpaid totalling €10,375.

In 2021 there were 202 outstanding fines amounting to €81,633. In 2023 Roscommon court office recorded 193 unpaid fines valued at €72,342 while 150 were reported last year totalling €59,128.

The Roscommon court office covers the district court sittings held in Roscommon Town, Ballaghaderreen, Castlerea and Strokestown.

Carrick-on-Shannon recorded the lowest amount nationally with €133,756.42 in unpaid fines since 2020 while Castlebar reported €336,234.35 and Sligo €316.786. Mullingar recorded €842,401.98 in unpaid fines.

The largest amount outstanding was in Dublin with over €13 million unpaid while Cork also saw over €3.236 million outstanding and Galway court office reported a figure of €2.412 million.

The figures, released to Ireland South MEP Cynthia Ní Mhurchú, showed that almost €45m in unpaid district court fines are outstanding across Ireland.

The former barrister has described the extraordinary amount as a slap in the face to the victims of their crimes.

“What does this say to the victims who have been impacted by crimes such as drink driving, assault, theft, and shop lifting?” she asked.

“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.” The MEP suggested that “it is time for a get-tough approach to those criminals who feel they are above the law”.

Ms Ní Mhurchú claimed that the Fines (Payment and Recovery) Act 2014, which came into force in January 2016, is “clearly not working” when it comes to the recovery of outstanding fines, and called for more aggressive implementation.

“The act allows measures up to and including taking someone’s social welfare or salary to pay the fines due,” she said, claiming further that 133, 851 district court fines across the country have yet to be paid in full.