People fined for breaking law have paid just a third of what they owe over last 18 months – 10h ago

Less than a third of the €25.6m levied in court fines across the country over the past 18 months has been paid by the people fined.

More than 84,000 fines were handed out nationally during 2021 and the first half of this year, the Courts Service said. Just €7.6m had been received with almost €18m remaining unpaid.

The Courts Service said  arrangements  were in many cases  in place for people to continue paying fines, while just under €16,000 had been deemed as “uncollectible” due to death or other considerations.

Just over 2,000 cases remain either under appeal or have gone to a judicial review, figures show .

Official data also show stark differences geographically in the level of collection of fines.

The highest collection rate of 59pc was recorded in Ballina, Co Mayo, for 2021.

More than half of fines from last year have also already been paid in five other court districts: Donegal;  Carrick-on-Shannon in Co Leitrim; Loughrea in Co Galway;  and Clonakilty and Youghal, both  Co Cork.

But of the €4.43m handed out in court fines in the Dublin Metropolitan District last year, only 23pc, or €1.02m, has been collected. In Limerick, the collection rate was also low at just 28pc. Fines totalled about €920,000 but only €254,000 has so far been paid.

There were eight different areas where about one-third of fines were collected: Wexford; Carlow; Roscommon; Nenagh, Co Tipperary; Trim, Co Meath; Longford; Mullingar, Co Westmeath; and Naas, Co Kildare.

Overall, for 2021, court fines amounted to about €16.3m of which just under a third, €5.5m, has so far been paid.

In the first half of 2022, courts handed down about €9.2m worth of fines, of which around €2.1 million — or 23pc of the total — has been paid.

The collection rate so far in Dublin is running at a rate of around 15pc, with just under €350,000 of the €2.3m levied collected so far.

The highest collection rate for this year has been recorded in Clonakilty where fines totalling €116,000 were handed down and more than €50,000 has been collected already.