Drink and drug driving checkpoints dramatically reduced in Laois and Offaly

The number of drink and drug driving checkpoints conducted by Gardaí in the Laois/Offaly district fell by over 25% towards the end of 2025.

EU Transport Committee MEP, Cynthia Ní Mhurchú, has highlighted significant increases in drug driving figures across Ireland. The MEP followed this with an analysis of the number of drink and drug driving checkpoints conducted by Gardaí across every district in the country.

Figures taken from the Garda PULSE system at the beginning of November 2025 show significant decreases in the number of Mandatory Intoxication Testing Checkpoints conducted across many Garda districts between the third quarter of 2024 and the same period in 2025. 

The figures show that there was a 25.1% decrease in the number of drug driving checkpoints by Gardaí in the Laois/Offaly district between the third quarter of 2024 and that same period in 2025. 

The number of Mandatory Intoxication Testing checkpoints in Laois and Offaly fell from 477 in the third quarter of 2024 to 357 checkpoints in the third quarter of last year.

Breath tests also fell from the third quarter of 2024 in comparison to the same time last year, falling from 2,454 to 1,888.

Nationally, 12,930 Mandatory Intoxication Testing checkpoints were carried out in the third quarter of 2024. This fell to 11,958 checkpoints during the same period in 2025, a drop of 7.5%.

In a statement from Ní Mhurchú on the figures, she said it is even more concerning that Garda Figures from the third quarter of 2019 show that 15,392 Mandatory Intoxication Testing Checkpoints were carried out nationally. This is 3,434 more than during the same quarter in 2025.

Ní Mhurchú has said that with road deaths so high, checkpoints should be increased on Irish roads.

The MEP said: "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.

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"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."