5,000 fewer breath tests in 2025 when 185 people died on Irish roads 

There were 2,257 fewer roadside tests in June 2025, with figures falling to 14,308 compared to 16,565 in 2024.

Nearly 5,000 fewer roadside breathalyser tests were conducted by gardaí in 2025, despite it being the most devastating year on Irish roads in nearly a decade.

New figures have revealed that 189,789 alcohol breathalyser tests were conducted in 2025, down from 194,758 during the previous year.

Last year saw the highest number of deaths on Irish roads in almost a decade, with 185 people losing their lives in fatal collisions.

The new figures show that as early as January 2025, there were fewer breathalyser tests being conducted than the same month in 2024. There were just 12,394 tests carried out compared to 13,592 in January 2024.

The largest fall-off came during the summer months. In May 2024, some 19,191 breathalyser tests were conducted. This fell to 18,712 in May 2025.

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There were 2,257 fewer roadside tests in June, with figures falling to 14,308 compared to 16,565 in 2024.

In July 2025, there were 2,458 fewer tests, with figures dropping from 13,737 in 2024 to 11,279.

In September 2025, a total of 12,751 breathalyser tests were done. This was down from 14,800 for the same period in 2024.

There were also fewer tests carried out during the busy Christmas season. In November 2024, some 13,850 people were tested for drink-driving. However, 1,030 fewer tests were carried out in November 2025.

There were also 261 fewer tests in December 2025 compared to the previous December, with numbers dropping from 21,213 to 20,952.

There were, however, some months when the number of breathalyser tests conducted increased. This included March, when an additional 2,516 tests resulted in 19,432 people being checked for drink-driving. There were also an additional 1,210 tests conducted in April, bringing the total number of checks to 17,812. In August, 16,929 people were breathalysed, up 874 compared to the same period in 2024.

There was still an overall drop in the number of breathalyser alcohol tests conducted in 2025, however, with 4,969 fewer tests carried out, a decrease of 2.5%.

'Very worrying'

Sinn Féin TD Thomas Gould, who obtained the statistics, told the Irish Examiner that the figures were “very worrying”.

“We have seen far too many fatalities on our roads to see reductions in breath tests,” he said.

“It is clear that staff constraints in the Gardaí are having real knock-on consequences for ordinary people. The minister for justice must ensure Gardaí have sufficient resources to keep our roads safe.”

Penalty points

Meanwhile, nearly 200,000 sets of penalty points were given to drivers in 2025.

New figures from the Department of Transport show there were 198,162 incidents where Gardaí issued a driver with penalty points last year.

Over half of the incidents were related to speeding (134,423), with 45,843 being issued due to a motorist exceeding a 100km/h speed limit.

There were 22,096 cases where people were caught using a mobile phone while driving.

Some 1,227 people were caught driving without a seatbelt, while 4,910 drivers were detected breaking a red light. Some 6,640 learner drivers received penalty points for driving unaccompanied.

There were 183,856 penalty point offences recorded in 2024.

55 fatalities so far

Michael Murphy, Fine Gael TD for Tipperary South and chairman of the Oireachtas transport committee, described the number of speeding offences as “staggering”.

There have been 55 fatalities on Irish roads so far this year. As the bank holiday weekend continues, Gardaí have urged drivers to drive safely.

Between 7am on Thursday and 7am on Sunday, more than 1,200 drivers were detected speeding.

This included one car recorded driving at 141km/h in a 100km/h zone on the N25 in Ballyadam, Cork.

On the R245 in Milford, Donegal, one driver was recorded at 147km/h in an 80km/h zone, while in Mount Brown in Dublin 8, one driver was detected driving at 82km/h in a 50km/h area.