Alcohol Action Ireland press release, Tuesday, 12 May 2026
Alcohol Action Ireland (AAI), the national independent advocate to reduce alcohol harm, will tomorrow (Wednesday, 13 May) appear before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport to outline the well-evidenced measures that are available to address road safety issues, with a key area being the role of alcohol.
The sitting, which comes a day after AAI’s briefing of Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Sean Canney, on the same issues, takes place as lawmakers look to reverse the current trend of increasing deaths on our roads, with 2025 being the worst year for such fatalities since 2014 with 190 people killed.
AAI CEO Dr Sheila Gilheany said: “Alcohol is involved in over a third of driver deaths on our roads. Almost one in eight drivers (12%) admit to drink driving in the past 12 months. That’s around 424,500 people a year, or 1,160 a day, taking a lethal weapon onto our roads after drinking. And the percentage of people admitting to drink driving is rising, up from 9% in 2021.
“Rigorous and highly visible enforcement is crucial and random breath testing is central to this. RSA data shows three in four people deem it ‘unlikely’ or ‘very unlikely’ to be breath tested on a typical journey – and they are right. Ireland has the lowest level of roadside breath testing in the EU. In 2021 just 18 tests per 1,000 inhabitants were carried out here. In France that figure was 109 and the league was topped by Estonia with a rate of 576 tests.
“Incredibly, the annual number of breath tests carried out in the last 15 years has plummeted as the number of drivers has skyrocketed. In 2010, the first full year for which there is breath test data, there were 2,655,048 driving licenses held in the country, 566,760 breath tests were carried out which resulted in 10,308arrests for drink driving. In 2025 there were 3,538,732 licenses held but only 189,736 breath tests carried out, resulting in 4,867 arrests for drink driving.
“This needs to change. In other countries ambitious targets for breath testing are set. In Australia for example there is a target that every licensed driver should expect to be tested once annually. Publishing clear targets and assigning resources to ensure they are met is the most effective way of reducing alcohol related deaths on our roads. In Australia their level of driver fatalities with a positive alcohol toxicology is 14% compared with 35% in Ireland.”
While prevention of drink driving is essential, it is also important to consider what happens after someone is caught. 37% of drink driving court cases do not result in convictions, while there are also some cumbersome procedures involved which can result in offenders evading the law.
Dr Gilheany continued: “There are legal procedures around the collection of blood samples following collisions, leading some offenders to evade detection. As in Australia, any Emergency Department doctor or nurse should be able to take a sample and store it in a one-way safe to preserve the chain of evidence. The time window for taking blood samples following a collision must also be extended from the current 3-hour limit to 12 hours. This is particularly relevant given the long distances to some hospitals from collisions in rural areas. Vehicles should also be impounded at the time of a failed breath test, as is the case for uninsured vehicles.
“Crucially, Government must act on the significant international evidence that reducing population-level alcohol consumption by enhancing controls on price, marketing and availability has an impact in reducing alcohol related collisions. Research across the EU indicates that a 10% increase in alcohol prices is associated with a 7% reduction in road deaths – for Ireland in 2025 that would be 13 people still alive. Every Budget that doesn’t include an increase in excise duties is a missed opportunity to reduce deaths on Irish roads.
“There is also a significant body of research which shows the link between increased alcohol availability through longer licensing hours and impacts on road safety. For example, a one-hour extension of late-night opening hours is associated with a 30% increase in road collisions in rural areas. The Programme for Government states there are plans to introduce changes to licensing hours through the Sale of Alcohol Bill/Intoxication Liquor Bill which are in development with the Department of Justice. It is essential that the Government does not make a bad situation worse through such actions.
“Ireland’s road safety record can be significantly improved by taking a number of well-evidenced steps. There is an ambitious government target of reducing deaths on our roads to less than 72 annually by 2030. There is strong public support for action to address Ireland’s alcohol issues despite opposition from vested interests. Doing nothing about the major risk factor of alcohol is not an option. Government must call time on drink driving.”
ENDS
