Alarming 155% increase in drug driving cases coming before Nenagh District Court

Shocking new figures released during the current Christmas focus on road traffic offences by the Gardaí reveal there has been a 155% increase in drug driving cases coming before Nenagh District Court in the first 10 months of this year.

There has been only a 5% increase in drug driving cases in Clonmel District Court office in the first 10 months of 2025, while there has been a 7% increase in drug driving cases coming before Tullamore District Court.

Cynthia Ní Mhurchú, Ireland South MEP and a member of the EU Transport Committee is calling for more extensive roadside testing for controlled substances and more severe consequences.

Drug-driving prosecutions in our district courts have surged, with 2,050 people before the courts up to October 2025 alone for drug driving offences, according to figures supplied by the Irish courts service.

A total of 1,499 people faced district court proceedings for drug driving in 2024, but this has already risen by 37% in the first 10 months of 2025, with 2025 marking the highest level on record for drug driving prosecutions in our district court system.

Ní Mhurchú said the trend reflects a steady rise since 2020 — but warned that this year’s sharp escalation is particularly alarming and she 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.

“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.

“They have to get the message that they are a danger to other innocent road users”

MEP 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 ice berg when it comes to drug driving”

Ní Mhurchú 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 December 9th 2025, 170 people had lost their lives on our roads, 7 more people than on the same date in 2024.

The new data reveals that 28,206 people have appeared in courts on drink- or drug-driving charges in five years.

The highest number of drug-driving court cases are in Dublin — with 501 heard there up to the end of September. Some 1,892 of the 8,100 drug-driving cases before the courts nationally over the last five years have been heard in the capital.

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Elsewhere, some 20,106 people have been before the courts for drink driving in the last five years.

This included 3,113 people in the first nine months of 2025.

Gardaí are currently in the middle of a Christmas safe-driving enforcement campaign for the festive period, and in one week alone have caught 118 people for driving under the influence of an intoxicant (alcohol and drugs).