Over €1m in fines unpaid at Portlaoise District Court

FINES totalling more than €1m have not been paid at Portlaoise District Court, new figures reveal.

Courts Service statistics show that a whopping €1.1m in fines, imposed for crimes ranging from assault to theft and traffic offences, remains unpaid in Portlaoise.

The total is considerably higher than the €854,000 outstanding at Tullamore District Court, which is in the same court district of Laois and Offaly.

Nationally, almost €45m is owed in unpaid fines issued since 2020 in district courts across the country.

The figures were released by the Courts Service this week to Fianna Fáil MEP Cynthia Ní Mhurchú, under the Freedom of Information Act. They show that 133,851 fines nationally have not yet been paid in full.

A former barrister, Ms Ní Mhurchú described the situation as ‘a slap in the face to victims of crimes’.

At a sitting of Portlaoise District Court in February, Judge Andrew Cody said he was ‘sick to his teeth’ of people not paying fines imposed by the court. His comment came when a woman was brought before him for non-payment of fines imposed nearly seven years ago.

Judge Cody said: “I’m sick to my teeth of people coming in here to this court five, six and seven years on, for not paying fines. The fines are imposed based on the person’s ability to pay, their financial circumstances and on their means.” 

Ms Ní Mhurchú called for the issue of unpaid district court fines to be included in a review of the criminal justice system, which was promised in the 2025 Programme for Government.

She said in a statement: ‘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 Garda on our streets.’ 

The MEP called for ‘a tough approach to those criminals who feel they are above the law’, adding: ‘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?’ 

The Dublin district court area had the highest amount of unpaid fines, with €13.3 million outstanding since 2020.

The next highest figure for unpaid fines was Naas, Co Kildare, where fines totalling €3.7 million remain unpaid.

By contrast, unpaid fines in Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim, totalled less than €134,000 since 2020.