Drop in garda checkpoints in Kildare/Carlow
Garda checkpoints in Kildare/Carlow District have almost halved in a year.
INTOXICATION checkpoints in the Kildare/Carlow Garda district has almost halved between 2024 and 2025, dropping from 782 to 439 (43.8%), according to garda figures released by the MEP Cynthia Ní Mhurchú.
This comes at a time when Ms Ní Mhurchú recently highlighted a surge in drug driving cases nationally, including a five per cent year-on-year increase in drug driving cases in Carlow.
EU Transport Committee MEP, Cynthia Ní Mhurchú, recently highlighted significant increases in drug driving figures across most Garda districts in Ireland.
The MEP has followed this with an analysis of the number of checkpoints Gardaí are carrying out across every district in the country.
Figures taken from the Garda PULSE system on 3 November 2025, show significant decreases in the number of Mandatory Intoxication Testing (MIT) Checkpoints conducted by An Garda Síochána across many Garda districts between Q3 2024 and Q3 2025.
12,930 MIT Checkpoints were carried out nationally throughout Q3 2024 but this fell to 11,958 checkpoints by Q3 2025, a drop of 7.5 per cent — against a backdrop of a worrying spike in road deaths.
Ms Ní Mhurchú described as even more concerning the fact that a simple trawl back through garda figures from Q3 2019, show that 15,392 MIT Checkpoints were carried out nationally during Q3 2019 - 3,434 more checkpoints than in Q3 2025.
By comparison, 140 people were killed on roads in 2019, which was 45 less people than 2025.
Ms Ní Mhurchú made it clear that with road deaths at unprecedented levels, garda management should be dramatically increasing the number MIT Checkpoints on our roads, not decreasing them.
“Gardaí carried out thousands more roadside alcohol and drug checkpoints in 2019 than they did in 2025,” she said.
“The figures speak for themselves. In 2019, we had 140 deaths, but in 2025, we had 185 deaths.
“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 per cent 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.
“ 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”
Ms Ní Mhurchú has called on garda management to clarify why there was an overall reduction in roadside testing.
Ms Ní Mhurchú raised the issue in the context of the recent bank holiday weekend, which are frequently flashpoints for serious road collisions and fatalities.
The Road Traffic Measures Bill 2023 was expected to empower the Minister for Transport to introduce double penalty points for driving offences during bank holiday weekends.
