Drink-driving conviction rates higher than reported says Transport Minister

The Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe has said conviction rates for drink-driving are much higher than recent reports suggest.

Paschal Donohoe has denied newspaper reports that only 40% of summonses result in convictions.

He says the figures reported were faulty, because they included summonses which had not been processed, or cases that hadn't finished.

And he has said the actual conviction rate is twice as high as reports had claimed.

“These figures were then portrayed by treating convictions as a percentage of summonses leading to the false conclusion that 60% of cases which were taken to court led to acquittal,” Mr Donohoe said.

“The reality is that approximately 86% of drink-driving cases which go to court, result in convictions.”