Four in 10 people charged with drink-driving, or more than 3,000 drivers a year, are escaping conviction and driving bans, it has emerged.
Figures released to the Dáil show that of the 37,897 people charged with drink-driving since the beginning of 2002, just 20,447 were convicted. They show that an average of 9,474 drivers were charged in each of the last four years for being over the legal limit and, of these, an average of 4,300 escaped conviction.
The figures back up contentions by TDs that many drink-drivers were avoiding driving bans by mounting successful technical challenges to court proceedings brought by gardaí.
The data, which was contained in a parliamentary reply to Labour transport spokeswoman Róisín Shortall, showed that in 2004, proceedings were brought against 9,126 drivers for exceeding the legal alcohol limit. This is similar to the 2003 figure.
During 2004 some 5,338 people were convicted in the courts, suggesting that around 40 per cent of drivers escaped conviction.
Last year gardaí brought drink-driving charges against 9,272 drivers. To date just 3,752 of these drivers were convicted, although this is a provisional number and is expected to rise over the coming months as cases are heard in court. The figures also showed that one in five drink-driving arrests does not result in charges being brought.
Minister for Justice Michael McDowell, who released the figures to Ms Shortall, said this was mainly due to the fact that the breath, blood or urine samples taken from these drivers were within the legal limit.
In 2004, although 12,307 drivers were arrested on suspicion of drink-driving, proceedings were initiated against just over 9,600.
Ms Shortall said yesterday the conviction rate was "worrying". "There seems to be a huge amount of slippage at different stages of the process, and the success rate at the end of that long process appears not to be very good."
The Garda Commissioner, Noel Conroy, would appear before the Oireachtas Transport Committee and would be questioned about the matter, Ms Shortall added.