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offences by recidivist offenders. 29 The level of confidence by sentencers in the penalty of
the fine mayalso have provided an upward pressure on the number of persons committed
to prison for short sentences. 30
In addition to the increase in the prison population, by virtue of a large number of short-
term prisoners continuouslypassing through the prison system, further pressure was added
to the crisis bythe increase in the length of imprisonment for the average person sentenced
(N.E.S.C. Report 1984). So, more prisoners were entering the prison system and were
committed for longer periods than heretofore.
The prisons in use in Ireland in the early 1980s, when community service was introduced,
were built in the 19 th Century and one prison at Portlaoise was exclusively used for
offenders committed to prison for serious paramilitary offences on conviction by the
Special Criminal Court. Accordingly for a period since 1973 to 1984 when community
service was introduced, one entire prison was removed from the prison system for
paramilitaryoffenders and was accordinglynot available for ordinaryoffenders.
From 1960 to 1982 there was a 200 percent increase in the Irish prison population. The
use of administrative procedures under the Criminal Justice Act 1960 allowed significant
leeway to the Minister for Justice to shed large numbers of prisoners from committal by
wayof holidaybreaks and especiallybyuse of earlyrelease of such offenders. Specifically
in 1982, 624 prisoners were given full temporary release under the supervision of the
Probation Service, 1,631 were given temporary release without supervision, 1,298 of them
specifically to allow the intake of more recent committals from the courts (Dail Debates
29 Although in Englandand Wales the crime rate andsubsequentlythe number of persons convictedbycourts for offences increased, the number of persons given custodial sentences in
relative terms compared with fines and other non-custodial sanctions such as probation, did not. However, the number of persons given custodial penalties in absolute terms did
certainlyincrease (Bottoms 1983) asimilar pattern also heldtrue for Ireland.
30 The practice of petitioning the executive for clemencyagainst fines emerged as a counter-veiling factor in the 1980s against the use of fines bycourts. The number of petitions for
clemency against fines, usually facilitated through Oireachtas representatives (TDs and Senators), amounted to almost a parallel system of justice where the executive rather than
judicial authority prevailed in sentencing as far as fines were concerned. It is difficult to assess the extent to which courts may have been reluctant to use the fines system as an
alternative to custodyin light of the widespread use of the petition system up to 1995 when the system was much curtailed as a result of the decision in Patrick Brennan –v- Minister
for Justice [1995] 1I.R. 612. In that case a Judge of the District Court was aggrieved at the extent to which the Minister for Justice exercised clemencyon fines imposed byhim.
The High Court upheld the power of commutation bythe executive through the Minister for Justice but stressed that the use of the petition system should be sparinglyused for the
rarest of cases andnot as an everydayprocedure for the forgiveness of fines properlyimposedbyacriminal court. In addition to the overuse of the petition system, there mayequally
have been concerns among sentencers about the collection and enforcement of fines bythe authorities usually An Garda Siochana. Subsequent to the introduction of community
service in Ireland, a Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General found considerable under-collection of fines from offenders, the effect of which would significantly undo the
sentencing aim originally intended whether punitive or deterrent. The extent to which these latter factors influenced the use of the fine as a penalty by sentencers, prior to the
introduction of community service in Ireland must remain speculative, but the writer from professional experience and from personal contacts with Judges regards the issue as
influential upon the extent to which fines were andare usedas alternatives to custody.
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