Figures show drug driving on the rise as Mayo bucks “frightening” trend
EU Transport Committee MEP, Cynthia Ní Mhurchú, recently highlighted significant increases in drug driving figures across most Garda districts in Ireland against an analysis of the number of checkpoints Gardaí are carrying out across every district in the country.
Figures taken from the Garda PULSE system on 03/11/2025, show significant decreases in the number of Mandatory Intoxication Testing Checkpoints conducted by An Garda Síochána across many Garda districts between Q3 2024 and Q3 2025. This at a time when drug driving is at epidemic levels.
12,930 Mandatory Intoxication Testing (MIT) Checkpoints were carried out nationally throughout Q3 2024 but this fell to 11,958 checkpoints by Q3 2025, a drop of 7.5% - against a backdrop of a worrying spike in road deaths in Ireland.
However, the Mayo, Roscommon and Longford Garda Division bucked the national trend with a 7.9% increase in drink and drug driving checkpoints in the division with numbers rising from 1,155 checkpoints in Q3 2024 to 1,247 checkpoints in Q3 2025.
Elsewhere in the west, checkpoint numbers were down in Sligo/Leitrim, dropping from 555 in Q3 2024 to 414 in Q3 2025, a 25.4% decrease while there was a 3.6% decrease in Galway from 1,125 to 1,084.
Ní Mhurchú described as even more concerning the fact that a simple trawl back through Garda figures from Q3 2019, show that 15,392 Mandatory Intoxication Testing Checkpoints were carried out nationally during Q3 2019 - 3,434 more checkpoints than in Q3 2025.
Ní Mhurchú, a member of the EU Transport committee, made it clear that with road deaths at unprecedented levels, Garda management should be dramatically increasing the number of Mandatory Intoxication Testing (MIT) Checkpoints on our roads, not decreasing them.
140 people were killed on Irish roads in 2019, 45 less people than in 2025.
She said the difference in the number of checkpoints between 2019 and 2025 is frightening.
“Gardaí carried out thousands more roadside alcohol and drug checkpoints in 2019 than they did in 2025. The figures speak for themselves. In 2019, we had 140 deaths, but in 2025, we had 185 deaths. Drug driving is out of control but now Gardaí are testing less people meaning the drug driving figures I recently received from the courts service are only the tip of the iceberg.
“Those figures show a 37% increase in cases coming before our district courts for drug driving in the first 10 months of 2025. This should be evidence enough for Gardaí to launch a massive increase in drug and drink driving checkpoints – but they have done the opposite and reduced them.
“I want to know the rationale for it. If it is a resource issue, lets deal with it but it must be pointed out that there were more Gardaí in 2025 than there were in 2019.”
Ní Mhurchú has called on Garda management to clarify why there was an overall reduction in roadside testing, according to the Gardaí’s own figures, when 185 people lost their lives on our roads in 2025.
Ní Mhurchú raised the issue in the context of a bank holiday weekend, which are frequently flashpoints for serious road collisions and fatalities.
The Road Traffic Measures Bill 2023 was expected to empower the Minister for Transport to introduce double penalty points for driving offences during bank holiday weekends; however, she said it remains unclear why this measure has not been implemented.
Ní Mhurchú has written to the Minister seeking clarification on whether this provision will be enacted and, if not, the reasons for that decision.
