Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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326. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of learner drivers who were detected drink driving each year, from 2020 to date in 2024; the number convicted in court for this offence; the number who were issued with a fixed penalty notice for drink driving; the number who paid the FCPN within the time limit, by county, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9367/24]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Road traffic enforcement is an integral part of the day to day duties of all frontline Gardaí. On average 25% of roads policing enforcement and 75% of drug/drink driving checks are carried out by regular members.

The budgetary provision for the recruitment of 800 - 1000 new Gardaí this year will both increase the number of frontline Gardaí and allow for the expansion of specialist units, including Roads Policing, as deemed necessary by the Garda Commissioner.

I have been advised by the Garda authorities that the below table provides a yearly breakdown of the number of incidents of drink driving that were marked 'Detected' or 'Resulted in Proceedings' where the suspected offender was identified as a learner driver each year from 2020-2024*.

Below is a yearly breakdown per Garda region of the number of incidents of drink driving that were marked 'Detected' or 'Resulted in Proceedings' where the suspected offender was identified as a learner driver each year from 2020-2023.

For data protection reasons, figures less than 10 cannot be reported on, and it is for this reason that figures have been given per Garda Region rather than per Garda Division. It is also for this reason that the 2024 figures have not been broken down further as each Region had a figure of less than 10.

Figures are based on incidents reported between 1 January 2020 to 25 February 2024, inclusive. All information contained in this report is based upon operational data from the PULSE system as was available on 26 February 2024 and is liable to change.

With relation to Fixed Charge Notices (FCNs), there are a number of drink-driving FCN offences that set a lower alcohol limit for “specified drivers”. “Specified drivers” refer to a number of categories of drivers, one of which are learner drivers.

However, I am advised that the Garda authorities are not in a position to extract out the specific FCNs that were issued to the learner driver subset of these “specified drivers”.

Additionally, as the Deputy will be aware, management of the courts, along with related operational matters and logistical functions, are the responsibility of the judiciary and Courts Service, which are independent in exercising their functions under the Courts Service Act 1998 and through the separation of powers in the Constitution.

The Courts Service has a dedicated email address for the provision of information to members of the Houses of the Oireachtas: oireachtasenquiries@courts.ie.