Biggest drop in Garda checkpoints in Kildare/Carlow Garda division - MEP

Mandatory intoxication testing checkpoints in the Kildare/Carlow Garda division fell by 43.8% between Q3 2024 and Q3 2025, according to EU Transport Committee member Cynthia Ní Mhurchú.

Garda figures show that checkpoints in the division dropped from 782 in Q3 2024 to 439 in Q3 2025, representing one of the sharpest declines recorded nationally.

Figures show that most Garda divisions recorded a fall in mandatory intoxication testing checkpoints between Q3 2024 and Q3 2025.

The largest reduction was in the Kildare/Carlow division, where checkpoints fell by 43.8%. Significant decreases were also recorded in Kerry (down 28.9%), Sligo/Leitrim (down 25.4%), Laois/Offaly (down 25.1%), Louth/Cavan/Monaghan (down 20.8%), Limerick (down 17.8%), Cork City (down 11.1%), Donegal (down 10.3%), Cork County (down 7.1%), Wexford/Wicklow (down 6.5%), Galway (down 3.6%) and Waterford/Kilkenny (down 3.4%).

In contrast, increases were recorded in several divisions, including Meath/Westmeath (up 39%), all Dublin divisions combined (up 12%), Clare/Tipperary (up 10.9%) and Mayo/Roscommon/Longford (up 7.9%).

Ní Mhurchú said the reduction comes at a time when drug driving is at what she described as epidemic levels across Ireland.

Despite this, she said Gardaí are carrying out fewer roadside tests rather than increasing enforcement.

Nationally, 12,930 mandatory intoxication testing checkpoints were conducted in Q3 2024, falling to 11,958 by Q3 2025 — a reduction of 7.5%.

Ní Mhurchú said the figures are even more concerning when compared with Q3 2019, when Gardaí carried out 15,392 checkpoints nationwide — 3,434 more than in Q3 2025.

In 2019, 140 people were killed on Irish roads, compared with 185 fatalities recorded in 2025.

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“The difference in the number of checkpoints between 2019 and 2025 is frightening,” Ní Mhurchú said.

“Gardaí carried out thousands more roadside alcohol and drug checkpoints in 2019 than they did in 2025. The figures speak for themselves,” she said.

“Drug driving is out of control,” she said.

Ní Mhurchú said drug-driving figures she recently received from the Courts Service show a 37% increase in cases coming before district courts in the first ten months of 2025.

“These figures are only the tip of the iceberg,” she said.

“This should be evidence enough for Garda management to launch a massive increase in drink and drug driving checkpoints — but they have done the opposite and reduced them,” she said.

“I want to know the rationale for it,” she said.

“If it is a resource issue, let’s deal with it, but it must be pointed out that there were more Gardaí in 2025 than there were in 2019,” she said.

Ní Mhurchú said that with road deaths at unprecedented levels, Garda management should be dramatically increasing the number of mandatory intoxication testing checkpoints, not decreasing them.

She has called on Garda management to clarify why roadside testing was reduced in 2025 despite 185 people losing their lives on Irish roads.

Ní Mhurchú raised the issue ahead of a bank holiday weekend, which she said are frequently flashpoints for serious road collisions and fatalities.

She also highlighted that the Road Traffic Measures Bill 2023 was expected to allow for double penalty points during bank holiday weekends, but said it remains unclear why the measure has not been implemented.

Ní Mhurchú has written to the Minister for Transport seeking clarification on whether the provision will be enacted and, if not, the reasons for that decision.