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Drugs Crime

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 October 2018

Tuesday, 23 October 2018

Questions (309)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

Question:

309. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of drivers that tested positive for drug driving at new mandatory checkpoints in 2018, by month in tabular form. [43260/18]

View answer

Written answers

The Deputy will be aware that section 10 of the Road Traffic Act, 2010 provides for Mandatory Intoxicant Testing checkpoints (MIT).  The powers of An Garda Síochána under the 2010 Act were extended under the Road Traffic Act 2016 to allow preliminary, oral, fluid-testing for drugs to be undertaken at these checkpoints, in additional to the current, preliminary, breath testing for alcohol.  These provisions came into force on 13 April 2017. 

I am informed by An Garda Síochána that it has conducted a total of 101,965 MIT checkpoints nationally since April 2017.

I regret that it is not currently possible to provide the number of drivers that tested positive for drug driving at mandatory checkpoints in 2018 broken down by month, as I am advised by the Garda authorities that the compilation of these statistics would require a disproportionate expenditure of Garda time and resources.

However, the Deputy may wish to note the following table, provided by the Garda authorities, which details the number of MIT checkpoints conducted by Division; the number of Breath Test and Oral Fluid Tests conducted; the number of persons who have tested positive for alcohol or drugs at these checkpoints; and the number who Failed/Refused to provide a specimen. These figures correspond to the period from 13 April 2017 to 12 October 2018.

Garda Division

Number of MIT Checkpoints conducted 2017- year to date 2018

Roadside Breath Tested Conducted

No. of positive Roadside Breath Tests

Cavan/Monaghan

3202

12510

105

Clare

5897

25162

88

Cork City

8855

23959

119

Cork North

9681

21023

95

Cork West

8647

21118

118

D.M.R. Eastern

891

12522

83

D.M.R. North Central

714

8693

39

D.M.R. Northern

712

11056

67

D.M.R. South Central

704

17176

53

D.M.R. Southern

779

13866

61

D.M.R. Western

1463

13228

98

Donegal

3044

14640

73

Galway

7047

28434

191

Kerry

4651

14717

82

Kildare

3985

44364

272

Kilkenny/Carlow

1936

9561

108

Laois/Offaly

3332

29355

111

Limerick

7217

21256

136

Louth

2470

9758

53

Mayo

3329

13764

87

Meath

1946

9559

87

Roscommon/Longford

3065

16203

87

Sligo/Leitrim

2231

8196

31

Tipperary

6742

17822

103

Waterford

2400

14544

79

Westmeath

1938

9692

82

Wexford

2988

17445

136

Wicklow

2099

12542

55

table contd.

Garda Division

Roadside Oral Fluid Tested Conducted

No. of positive Oral Fluid Tests

Fail/Refusal breath Test

Fail/Refusal Oral Fluid Test

Cavan/Monaghan

56

13

3

0

Clare

177

22

2

0

Cork City

4

1

0

0

Cork North

55

8

1

1

Cork West

124

13

0

0

D.M.R. Eastern

152

9

4

0

D.M.R. North Central

71

15

2

0

D.M.R. Northern

91

6

1

0

D.M.R. South Central

97

6

0

0

D.M.R. Southern

95

14

0

0

D.M.R. Western

154

13

0

0

Donegal

11

0

1

0

Galway

22

5

0

0

Kerry

43

11

0

1

Kildare

268

32

2

0

Kilkenny/Carlow

44

5

0

0

Laois/Offaly

120

16

0

0

Limerick

42

7

1

0

Louth

3

2

0

0

Mayo

12

3

2

0

Meath

17

4

2

0

Roscommon/Longford

42

10

0

0

Sligo/Leitrim

59

9

0

0

Tipperary

21

5

2

0

Waterford

31

5

1

0

Westmeath

14

5

1

0

Wexford

105

19

1

0

Wicklow

9

1

1

0

* The statistics provided are provisional, operational and liable to change and are valid for the period 13th April 2017- 12th October 2018.

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