Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 December 2025
585. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration his plans in relation to the continued use by some District Courts of charity donations to allow motorists to avoid convictions for penalty point offences, including in cases of those driving at speeds significantly in excess of speed limits; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [73842/25]
View answerThe judiciary are, subject only to the Constitution and the law, independent in the exercise of their judicial functions. To be of assistance, my officials have made enquiries of the Courts Service regarding the matters raised.
As the Deputy may be aware, the court poor box is a non-statutory system used by the judiciary in the District Courts to impose a financial charge on a defendant to be used for a charitable purpose, usually instead of imposing a criminal conviction. The option of paying into the court poor box arises usually where the offence is minor in nature and would not attract a custodial sentence.
The Courts Service publish Annual Reports on the Court Poor Box on the Courts Service website: www.courts.ie/publications/poor-box-2017-2023. Payments made to the court poor box are accounted for by the court office concerned and the accounting procedures are subject to audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General. Generally, charities are the recipients of poor box contributions but the decision is solely at the discretion of the judge who is independent in the matter of sentencing, as in other matters concerning the exercise of judicial functions.
In relation to next steps to address the use of the poor box in District courts, the Criminal Justice (Community Sanctions) Bill 2014, which seeks to update the Probation of Offenders Act 1907, will facilitate the effective and efficient use of community sanctions by the courts, and will ensure that the courts have a wide range of appropriate options for dealing with people who have committed minor offences.
Part 5 of the General Scheme of the Bill, as published by my Department, provides for the abolition of the Court Poor Box and the establishment of the Reparation Fund and reparation orders as a form of non-custodial sentence. This is to provide for a fair, equitable and transparent system of reparation, applicable only to minor offences and for the usage of that fund to provide services for the victims of crime.
A policy review of the Scheme of the Criminal Justice (Community Sanctions) Bill 2014, conducted by my Department, recommends that changes reflect developments in Irish penal policy since 2014. My Department is currently considering the policy review and next steps are being considered in the context of updating the Bill.
