Mattie McGrath
Question:
580. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of drug driving arrests made by county in the south-eastern Garda division from 2014 to 2018, inclusive, and to date in 2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14159/19]
View answer
As arrest data is not recorded by the Department, I have asked An Garda Síochána whether these statistics can be compiled. Once a report is received, I will forward the data directly to the Deputy.
The Deputy may already be aware that similar data on recorded crime offences for "driving/in charge of a vehicle under the influence of drugs", by division and quarter is publically available from the Central Statistics Office under classification code 0413:
https://www.cso.ie/px/pxeirestat/Statire/SelectVarVal/Define.asp?maintable=CJQ03&PLanguage=0
The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 42A
I refer to Parliamentary Question No. 580 of 26 March 2019 in which the Deputy asked for the number of drug driving arrests made by county in the south eastern Garda division from 2014 to 2018 and to date in 2019. The Deputy will recall that I sought a report from An Garda Síochána which is now at hand.
I am informed that incidents for driving under the influence of an intoxicant are not divided into separate alcohol and drug offences and therefore the specific information you requested is not available. However, I am informed that An Garda Síochána has conducted 18,852 Mandatory Intoxicant Testing Checkpoints in the South Eastern Region since the introduction of Mandatory Intoxicant Testing Checkpoints on 13 April, 2017 and up until 24 March, 2019).
The following tables provide the number of arrests for driving under the influence of an intoxicant (including both drug and alcohol), divided by region and county. Please note that statistics provided are provisional and liable to change and are correct as of 24th March, 2019.
Number of Arrests for Driving under the Influence from 2014-2019 (as of 24/03/2019)
DUI Arrests
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
|
2014
|
2015
|
2016
|
2017
|
2018
|
2019
|
Dublin Region
|
1678
|
1544
|
1604
|
1632
|
1665
|
366
|
Eastern Region
|
1118
|
1119
|
1329
|
1556
|
1623
|
330
|
Northern Region
|
1040
|
1001
|
1166
|
1285
|
1242
|
272
|
South Eastern Region
|
1126
|
1073
|
1152
|
1369
|
1400
|
298
|
Southern Region
|
1574
|
1580
|
1638
|
1752
|
1680
|
347
|
Western Region
|
1058
|
1100
|
1179
|
1329
|
1242
|
241
|
DUI Arrests South Eastern Region
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
|
2014
|
2015
|
2016
|
2017
|
2018
|
2019
|
Waterford
|
248
|
225
|
269
|
268
|
254
|
59
|
Tipperary
|
361
|
330
|
314
|
477
|
480
|
100
|
Kilkenny/Carlow
|
279
|
263
|
282
|
287
|
305
|
65
|
Wexford
|
238
|
255
|
287
|
337
|
361
|
74
|
The following table shows the number of motorists that have tested positive for an intoxicant at these checkpoints, as broken down per county .
POSITIVE ROADSIDE BREATH TESTS & ORAL FLUID TESTS AT MIT CHECKPOINTS – SOUTH EASTERN REGION
Division
|
Date Period
|
No. of Positive Roadside Breath Tests
|
No. of Positive Oral Fluid Tests
|
Tipperary
|
13/04/17 – 24/03/19
|
131
|
7
|
Waterford
|
13/04/17 – 24/03/19
|
100
|
7
|
Wexford
|
13/04/17 – 24/03/19
|
172
|
27
|
Kilkenny/Carlow
|
13/04/17 – 24/03/19
|
135
|
8
|
I hope this information is of some assistance.