Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 15 January 2026
158. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Transport further to publication of the report ‘Recording of Penalty Points and Disqualifications on Driver Records’, the way in which his Department concluded 19% of court-imposed penalty points have been fully recorded; the way in which disqualified drivers were deemed as not having a valid licence; his plans to address these issues; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2852/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra241. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Transport the number of the 19% unmatched penalty points on the NVDF that were to drivers that should have been disqualified. [2906/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra248. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Transport the information he has regarding the 18% of disqualified drivers not matched on the national vehicle and driver file who he has stated do not hold a valid drivers licence; and whether he is engaging with the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration and the Courts Service as to the circumstances by which they were on the road but did not hold a valid drivers licence. [2919/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra249. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Transport whether he intends to go further back in his analysis of the recording and penalty points on the national vehicle and driver file to see the number of drivers who were not matched in recent years. [2920/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra252. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Transport the number of the 18% unmatched penalty points on the NVDF that were to drivers holding a licence falling under Group 1 licence categories; the number holding a licence falling under Group 2 licence categories, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2954/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra253. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Transport the number of the 18% unmatched penalty points on the NVDF that were to drivers holding a valid Irish drivers licence; the number of drivers holding an invalid/expired Irish drivers licence, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2955/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra265. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Transport the data available regarding the 18% unmatched penalty points on the NVDF (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3037/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra268. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Transport the number of penalty point conviction notifications received from courts in 2024 by county; the number received without a driver number attached; the number unmatched to a driver record; and the number whereby a Shell record was created. [3122/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra269. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Transport the number of learner driver penalty point conviction notifications received from the courts in 2024 by county; the number received without a learner permit driver number attached; the number unmatched to a driver record; the number whereby a Shell record was created. [3123/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra270. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Transport the number of court disqualifications received in 2024, by county; the number without a driver number attached; the number unmatched to a driver record; the number whereby a Shell report was created; the number that surrendered their licence to the RSA. [3124/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra271. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Transport the number of learner driver disqualification orders received in 2024, by county; the number without a learner permit driver number attached; the number unmatched to a driver record; the number whereby a shell record was created; the number of learners that surrendered their permit to the RSA. [3125/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra272. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Transport following his report on 10 December 2025 on ' Recording of Penalty Points and Disqualification on Driver Records', to confirm the number of penalty point offences issued by the Courts in 2024 that represents the 19% that were not matched to a driver record even though 'there is evidence a match may have been possible'; if his Department have since matched the 19% to driver records; if these penalty points offences issued by the Courts remain assigned instead to a 'shell' record; the reason responsible for the automated matching system's failure in its attempt to match 19%; and if this issue has been resolved to ensure it does not occur again. [3126/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra273. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Transport the number of unmatched disqualifications issued by the courts in 2024 to driver records that were made up of Irish driving licence holders. [3127/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra274. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Transport if his Department have started work to examine ways to improve the automated matching process of court penalty point convictions to driver records; the proposed date when he plans to publish 2025 data on the recording of penalty points and disqualifications on driver records for 2025. [3128/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra275. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Transport to report on the mismatches made by the Road Safety Authority (RSA) to driving records of motorists who were not disqualified; the consequences of an incorrect match for the individuals affected; the consequences when this incorrect data is made available to AGS members at the roadside to assist in confirming the status of a driver's licence or permit; the consequences when this incorrect data is provided to motor insurers who use the data to verify the status of a licence or permit when renewing motor insurance cover. [3129/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra276. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Transport the number of disqualification orders received from the courts service of drivers convicted of dangerous driving or drink/drug driving offences in 2024; the number that included a driver number in the order; the number matched to the driver record; and the number whereby a shell record was created to record. [3130/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 158, 241, 248, 249, 252, 253, 265, 268, 269, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275 and 276 together.
As Minister of State for International & Road Transport, Logistics, Rail & Ports, I wish to advise that a document on the recording of penalty points and disqualifications on driver records was published by my Department on 10 December 2025. The report is available at assets.gov.ie/static/documents/39ad7e4f/Recording_of_Penalty_Points_and_Disqualifications_on_Driver_Records.pdf.
This report confirms that 95% of penalty points were successfully added to a driver record on the National Vehicle and Driver File (NVDF) database in 2024. Most penalty points are notified to the Department's NVDF by An Garda Síochána and have a successful matching rate of very close to 100%. For the smaller number of penalty points arising from the Courts, the matching rate is 46%.
As the report outlines, my Department has manually reviewed a sample of the 54% the unmatched court imposed penalty points for 2024. This analysis shows that, of the 54%, in 34% there is no evidence to be found of the driver in NVDF (therefore these are likely to be individuals who do not and have never held a driving licence), in 1% the drivers appear to be foreign licence holders and in the remaining 19% it was found that a match to an NVDF record may have been possible. As the report acknowledges, there is therefore room for improvement and consideration needs to be given to how to improve the process.
For disqualifications, 82% of notifications to the Department have been matched to a driver record on the NVDF. For disqualifications notified to the Department by An Garda Síochána, these have a matching rate of very close to 100%. For those arising from the Courts, the matching rate is 76%. For disqualifications issued by the courts, the Department has again manually reviewed unmatched records for a sample period and this shows that the unmatched records are almost entirely made up of drivers who do not hold or have never held an Irish Driving Licence. Therefore, no match to the NVDF would be possible for these motorists.
When information is received by the Department on penalty points or disqualifications from the Courts Service or An Garda Síochána, if this contains the “Driver Number” (a unique number assigned to each licenced driver on their driving licence), this is automatically linked to the correct record on the NVDF. Where the information received does not contain the Driver Number, then attempts are made by the Department with the assistance of the Road Safety Authority (RSA) to match the penalty points or disqualification to the correct NVDF record.
A mismatch, which is where the wrong driver record on the NVDF is updated in error, can occur very rarely for a variety of reasons. It may be the offender provided incorrect information, the information from the Courts Service or An Garda Síochána might be inaccurate, or an error may occur in the Department’s or the RSA’s matching.
If notified of an error, the NVDF record is updated immediately by the Department, and a notification letter is sent. Who issues such notifications will depend on the nature of the error; it may, for example, be sent by An Garda Síochána where there was a technical or administrative issue with the record itself; or it may be issued by my Department where there was an error in endorsing the offence on the correct driver record.
To the Department’s knowledge, mismatch cases are extremely rare. This is in context of over 10,000 disqualifications and 166,000 sets of penalty points in 2024. The Department are not aware of any mismatched case in 2024, which is the only year at present for which full data are available for analysis.
Legislative changes that came into effect on 31 March 2025 mean that drivers attempting to renew or incept motor insurance policies from that date are required to provide their driver number to the insurer. The insurer then validates this against the NVDF. Any driver numbers associated with a disqualified driver will be flagged and the insurer will direct the driver to request a driver statement from the RSA. Thus far my Department has not been informed of any driver who has had a disqualification applied in error. We have only been notified of one case of a driver who had penalty points incorrectly applied to their licence.
The published report presents detailed statistical tables, including breakdowns by county, for 2024. My Department does not intend to go back further in our analysis of the recording of penalty points on the NVDF as penalty point offences issued more than three years ago no longer exist on the system. Therefore, 2024 is the most recent year for which there are data for analysis purposes and report presents the available breakdowns. The Department will be updating the published report to cover 2025 in the coming months when full data are available and this analysis will include any available information on mismatches in that year.
My Department will also be undertaking further work to examine ways to improve matching performance. This will focus on two areas. The first will be to work with the Courts Services to see if further information can be included on the file notifying the Department of penalty points convictions. This may offer an opportunity to improve the automated matching process. The second area will be to examine whether it would be cost effective to extend the manual process run the RSA contractor (for Courts notifications of disqualifications) to penalty points.
Finally, enforcement of road traffic offences, including driving without a valid licence, is a matter for An Garda Síochána and my colleague the Minister for Justice. I can confirm that An Garda Síochána have full access to the NVDF data in real time.
