Madam, – Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern has to be praised for the initial step of publishing the Fines Bill, which will hopefully reduce the number of people jailed for the non-payment of a fine (Home News, April 21st). His comment, “Very few persons are in prison at any one time solely for non-payment of a fine”, is factually correct on one level. However, over 13 per cent (1,335) of those committed to prison in 2007 were jailed for non-payment of a fine.
Prison should to be reserved for those who commit serious crimes. – Yours, etc,