Local Fine Gael TD Emer Currie has said that people are losing confidence in road safety.
A January 8 article in the Irish Independent found that a quarter of court-ordered driver disqualifications and almost half of all court-issued penalty points are going unrecorded.
Currie said the situation is a “failure” which demands “immediate action.”
The Dublin West TD said that the situation exposes “serious and systemic” weaknesses in Ireland’s road safety system, and how road safety laws are implemented.
Figures from the Department of Transport showed that in 2024, 25% of court-issued driver disqualifications and almost 50% of court-issued penalty points were not fully captured by the National Vehicle and Driver File (NVDF).
The database is used by An Garda Síochána and motor insurers to verify a driver’s status, yet there are significant gaps in its reporting, gaps which Currie has called “unacceptable in any enforcement system.”
Currie submitted a series of queries to the Department of Transport seeking clarity on the accuracy of the NVDF, with the Minister for Transport, Darragh O’Brien, saying he was committed to a “full review” of the matching process.
The Fine Gael TD noted that the lapse in data comes at a time when road safety is back in the headlines, for the wrong reasons.
190 people lost their lives on Irish roads in 2025, up from 174 in 2024.
Currie said, “at a time like this, confidence in road safety enforcement is essential.”
She expressed concern at the Department of Transport’s admission that in 19% of unmatched penalty-point cases, there was evidence a match could’ve been made.
She noted, “worryingly this includes drivers who had reached 12 penalty points and should have been disqualified. This points to a system which is not functioning as it should.”
She said the Department’s commitment to further work with the Courts Service is positive, but said proven reforms used elsewhere should also be considered.
Currie noted that in Northern Ireland, drivers surrender their licences directly to court clerks at the point of disqualification, and that a similar system should be introduced in the Republic.
“It’s simple, effective and dramatically reduces errors.”
Currie warned, “if penalty points and disqualifications are not accurately recorded, court-ordered sanctions are undermined and public confidence in road safety enforcement is damaged; these failures must be urgently addressed.”