Charities working with addiction, older people, homelessness and animal welfare were among hundreds of organisations sharing more than €1.5 million raised by the courts’ poor box last year.
Figures from the Courts Service, published on Monday, show the poor box distributed €1.54 million in 2025, a similar figure to 2024 but 54 per cent higher than the €1 million raised in 2023.
More than 800 charities in every county benefited last year, with sums ranging from as little as €200 to the Irish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children to €100,000 for the Society of St Vincent de Paul.
Other beneficiaries included Limerick Youth Service (€1,000), Rape Crisis Centre (€3,500), Castleknock Educate Together (€2,900) and Cope Galway homelessness charity (€300).
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The Criminal Courts of Justice in Parkgate accounted for more than €225,000 of the payments made.
Donating to the poor box is used in the District Court largely as a means of helping first-time offenders avoid a conviction for minor, nonviolent offences.
Use of the poor box has come under the spotlight after it emerged some motorists were permitted to avail of it to avoid penalty points and/or driving bans.
This was despite a 2014 High Court ruling that a law making penalty points mandatory superseded the District Court’s common law jurisdiction to allow poor box donations in lieu of convictions for such offences.
The option of paying into the court poor box usually arises where the offence is minor in nature and would not attract a custodial sentence.
“Public order offences can be the most common for which the poor box option is given to defendants,” a Court Services spokesman said.
“These include breaches of the peace, intoxication, or disorderly conduct in a public place, threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour in a public place, or failing to comply with a direction from An Garda Síochána,” he said.
“It is at other times used for first time, minor drug possession offences and offences against property.”
The accused may have never previously been before the courts, have pleaded guilty and a conviction might be “inappropriate”, or might “adversely affect employment, career or working abroad prospects”, said the spokesman.
When combined with the Probation of Offenders Act, the mechanism provides an option where the person is held accountable in public court and a financial penalty is considered merited, but a conviction and fine are not, he said.
“It can sometimes be a more meaningful punishment than the maximum fine where the value of a maximum fine may have been eroded by inflation”.
Historically the practice of courts directing that money be paid into a poor box, instead of or in conjunction with another penalty, predates the State.
“It appears to ... stem from judges’ jurisdiction at common law to exercise discretion in imposing a penalty, if any, and/or imposing other conditions, such as donations to the poor or to charity,” said the spokesman.
Organisations wishing to benefit from the local poor box should apply in writing to their local District Court office where applications will be brought to the attention of the presiding judge.
Funds paid out are at the discretion of the judge, and the courts service has no function in their allocation.
