Local Authority: South Dublin County Council
Issue: Courts costs not collected
South Dublin County Council was owed €237,000 in court costs and fines for District Court prosecutions at the end of 2016 – but received just under €9,900 in costs and fines in the first half of 2017.
An internal audit completed in 2018 examined the council's collection of costs and fines awarded to it in District Court summary prosecutions taken by the council, including, for example, prosecutions for littering or for planning-related matters.
It found that there was a need to strengthen internal controls and that there was no comprehensive central record of fines and costs awarded to the council.
The internal audit only examined District Court prosecutions taken by the council, excluding all civil and personal injury cases and any cases involving the higher courts.
It noted that "the Council incurs costs when prosecuting through the courts. It is in the Council’s interest to ensure as far as possible that where fines and costs are awarded to the Council that every effort is being made by the courts to collect these."
It also stated that the payment of costs is enforced "in the main" by the Courts Service, but "there is no communication channel established between the Courts Service and the Council in relation to case status."
The audit further recommended that after prosecuting cases, "the Council should be proactive in obtaining updates on cases to obtain assurance from the Court Service that awards are pursued in an efficient manner, and collection rates are maximised."
For certain classes of cases – such as waste management, environmental health, and dog control – the audit was unable to quantify how much the council was owed at the end of 2016 because the relevant information was "not available."
The audit found no standardised system for recording and reporting purposes and said that the total value of outstanding costs was not verifiable. It also found that there was a "full reliance on [the] Courts Service for collection of costs, without assurance on processes in place" and that there was "no follow up/communication with the Court Service."
Of the €237,000 owed to the council at the end of 2016, €176,000 was related to planning enforcement. But from January to June 2017, the council recovered nothing in this type of case.
And having been owed €61,000 in costs and fines associated with litter prosecutions by the end of 2016, it recovered just €200 in the first six months of 2017.
The council told RTÉ Investigates that collecting costs and fines is a matter for the Courts Service. It also said that it has not carried out a similar analysis on courts costs owed to the council in civil cases or in cases in the higher courts.
