Fears 'spiking' incidents could be much higher than reported

There is no standalone legislation for the crime and justice minister Jim O’Callaghan admitted last month that there is no court data available in relation to spiking because it is not a standalone crime.

A campaign seeking standalone legislation for spiking is being launched amid concerns that such incidents are not being accounted for in data collection.

Garda figures show that there were almost 190 incidents of spiking reported to them between January 2022 and December 2025.

However, there is no standalone legislation for the crime and justice minister Jim O’Callaghan admitted last month that there is no court data available in relation to spiking because it is not a standalone crime, making it difficult to seek data on it through the Court Service’s system.

Currently, spiking by either injection or by putting a substance in a drink is an offence under the Non-Fatal Against the Persons Act 1997. The Programme for Government has promised the introduction of “stronger laws to combat the spiking of drinks”.

The Cork Sexual Violence Centre has launched a campaign seeking the introduction of standalone legislation for spiking, and a motion at the National Women’s Council annual general meeting seeking the support of the council was passed.

One of the campaign leads, Dola Twomey, told the Irish Examiner that there are concerns that toxicology testing is not automatically done when someone believes they have been spiked.

She said: “It should be done as a matter of routine. If someone goes to their doctor the following day, the chances are that it may be too late. In a typical case, somebody loses hours of their life that they cannot recall, and at a minimum, from our perspective, there isn’t a way of finding out what substance is in your body.” 

She said that engagement with hundreds of people at festivals through the Safe Gigs campaign has shown that high numbers of people talk of believing they themselves were spiked or they knew of someone who had been.

She said incidents of spiking can occur at locations ranging from weddings to corner pubs to house parties.

She continued: “We do not know what people are getting spiked with. What we do know, though, from internationally is that if somebody spikes your drink with something, it is not going to change colour or fizz or anything.” 

Fianna Fáil TD for Cork South Central, Seamus McGrath, has raised the issue on a number of occasions through parliamentary questions.

He said that as well as the need for a standalone offence of spiking, there needs to be a stronger protocol in place involving gardaí and health personnel around issues, including toxicology.