Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 25 May 2022
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport
Medical Bureau of Road Safety: Chairperson Designate
Dr. Declan Bedford:
No, but they look like they will be the same as for 2020. There was a big rise in 2020 but not in 2021.
In 2020, the number of specimens received by the bureau looking for alcohol in blood and urine was 5,967 or almost 6,000 while, in 2019, it was 4,854. That was a 23% increase and preliminary indications are that it stayed that way last year. The number of evidential breath tests was 3,278, which was down somewhat from the previous year's 5,300. It is because more blood samples are being taken now.
Over the years we are trending upwards in drugs.
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