I propose to take Questions Nos. 177, 178, 179, 181, 182, 183 and 184 together.
My Department's National Vehicle and Driver File (NVDF) database serves as the official record for driving licence, penalty point, and disqualification information.
The Courts Service notifies my Department of court disqualification orders via an API (application programming interface). This API attempts to automatically match records received to a driver using the details provided by the Courts Service. For records matched in this manner, the licence is endorsed automatically with the disqualification. The records that fail automatic validation by my Department are sent to RSA, who have a contract partner to attempt to manually match the records. If no match is found, a ‘shell’ record is created in the NVDF to track the disqualification. If a match is found, the disqualification is endorsed on the driver record. A licence is only endorsed with a disqualification when there is no doubt about the accuracy of the match.
My Department has made a concerted effort to deep dive into this area for recent months in 2025. This is ongoing but preliminary results indicate that approximated 15-20% of court disqualification orders have a driver number attached. Due to diligent matching by RSA's contractor, the final match rate is around 75%. The contractor match all records within two weeks of receiving them.
It is important to note that some disqualifications are issued to individuals who do not hold, or have never held, an Irish driving licence, or who hold foreign licences. As a result, not all disqualification orders can be matched to an existing NVDF record?and in such cases a licence clearly cannot be surrendered.
Additionally, some disqualifications affecting Irish licence holders remain unmatched due to the individual’s failure to present their licence in court. This issue has been highlighted in the Garda Inspectorate Report and is the subject of ongoing collaboration between the Department of Transport, the Department of Justice, and the Courts Service.
A notification of disqualification is issued by the Courts Service for drivers convicted of a court disqualification, the notification includes the requirement to surrender the driving licence or learner permit to the RSA within 14 days of commencement of disqualification.
It is important to note that, while the non-surrender of licences is of concern, the more important issue from a road safety perspective is that the disqualification from driving is observed. The individuals in question are fully aware of the Court's decision and the disqualification from driving is in effect regardless of whether their licence is surrendered.?
An Garda Síochána have had access to the NVDF for many years and have used NVDF data at the roadside using their mobility app for at least three years. Since then, they have been able to detect disqualified drivers at the roadside. Since the middle of this year my Department has begun sending a timelier (every 24 hour) file and with some additional data. I can confirm that this new data feed includes the categories of licences and permits and number of penalty points held. I believe these new data are being incorporated by An Garda Síochána into an updated version of their mobility app. My Department does not have data or statistics on the use of An Garda Siochana’s mobility app or on the timeframe for roll out of updates to this app to members of An Garda Síochána. The data available to An Garda Siochána also includes whether licences are surrendered or not.
In 2024 7,858 drivers were disqualified in court. Of these 7,858 drivers, 5954 were successfully matched to a driver record and 1,904 were not matched. 635 of these surrendered their licence to the RSA.
My Department intends to publish more complete data on the matching process in the near future., once the analysis noted above is completed.
