Kildare drug driving figures to match last year’s high
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KILDARE has shown the largest drop in the country for drug driving charges, despite a nationwide rise of 37 per cent, however this is coming from the fact that the figure for 2024 was the second highest in the country for such charges after Dublin.
The Kildare Court District reported an 11 per cent drop on the 2024 total of 99 such charges, down to 80 for the first 10 months of this year, however with November and December still to be counted, the annual total could yet achieve parity.
Nationally, drug driving charges rose from 1,499 in 2024 to 2,050 so far this year, having risen from just 390 in 2020.
Letterkenny, Limerick, Roscommon, Sligo, Trim and Nenagh all saw rises in the same period of over 100 per cent, it was the jumps in the two Midland towns of Longford (443%) and Mullingar (562%, 1st) that were most astonishing.
All these figures came from a report released to Ireland South MEP Cynthia Ní Mhurchú from the Irish Court Services.
She called for “a Christmas crackdown on drug drivers as numbers before our district court system soar”.
“A total of 1,499 people faced district court proceedings for drug driving in 2024, but this has already risen by 37 per cent in the first 10 months of 2025, with 2025 marking the highest level on record for drug driving prosecutions in our district court system,” she said.
Ms Ní Mhurchú said the trend reflects a steady rise since 2020 — but warned that this year’s sharp escalation is particularly alarming, and has called for decisive action this Christmas to curb the escalating threat of drug driving.
“We need an expanded roadside drug testing regime this Christmas period on our roads, and we also need to consider policies whereby anyone convicted of drug driving is required to re-sit their driving test or, at minimum, complete a comprehensive driver re-education programme,” said the MEP.
“They have to get the message that they are a danger to other innocent road users”
Ms Ní Mhurchú has also suggested deploying modified interlock technology — devices currently used to prevent drink driving in the cars of convicted drink drivers — so they can detect drugs instead of alcohol in the vehicles of repeat offenders.
The Ireland South MEP described the cases that do make it to the district court as being the ‘tip of the iceberg when it comes to drug driving”.
She described these measures “as an essential ramp up in the fight against drug driving in an effort to protect all road users and restore confidence in road safety this festive season”. As of 9 December, 170 people had lost their lives on our roads this year, seven more people than on the same date in 2024.
