District Court

You may come in to contact with a need for legal services, if youreceive a summons for District Court for a Motoring Offence. We listbelow the updated schedule for fines disqualifications for DrinkDriving Offences.

• A system of fixed charges have been introduced to replace the former "on the spot" fine system.
• A driver caught speeding will have two penalty points endorsed on their driving licence and a fine of €80. This fine increases to €120 if not paid within 28 days.
• A driver may challenge the speedingviolation in Court. However, if found guilty of the Offence, fourpenalty points will be endorsed on their licence and they will be subject to a Maximum fine of €800 for a first offence
• Points remain on the licence record for aperiod of 3 years and an accumulation of 12 points at any time within the 3 years will lead to an automatic disqualification for 6 months.
• The amount of penalty points imposed depends on the severity of the offence.
• Gardai will enforce the speeding regulations through traffic patrols,speed cameras and speed radar and video surveillance under the GATSOsystem. This system automatically detects vehicle speeds and registration numbers.
• If a driver is caught speeding the Gardaiwill send a notice of the offence to the registered owner of thevehicle. The notice of the fine and penalty points will contain a spacefor the owner to say who was driving the car at the time of theoffence. If the relevant driver's name and licence number is notincluded, or it is left blank, the penalty points will be endorsed against the registered owner.
• From 1st January 2003, all drivers mustcarry their Driving Licence. However, this offence will not incurpenalty points until the National Driver File is amended to accommodate the new system.
• Some 61 other offences including drivingwith a mobile phone, driving without insurance, driving without wearinga seatbelt and failure to obey traffic lights will also accrue penalty points once the National Driver File is operational
• Driving without insurance is generallypunishable by a fine of up to €2,500, disqualification of one year ormore for a first offence and two years or more for a second offence,and, at the discretion of the court, a term of imprisonment not exceeding six months.
• In the case of a first offence of drivingwithout insurance, the court may decide in special cases not to imposea period of disqualification or to impose a period of disqualificationof less than a year. Where the court decides not to impose adisqualification, drivers convicted of a first offence of drivingwithout insurance will incur 5 penalty points on their licence record in addition to any other penalty imposed by the court
• Drivers will be liable for penalty points ifthey do not wear their seatbelt or if they allow a person under 17 years of age to travel unrestrained in a vehicle
• Drivers will receive 4 penalty points iffound guilty in a court of a seatbelt offence and a fine of up to €800.If you opt to pay the fixed charge of €60 within 28 days of the issueof the fixed charge notice from the Gardai, 2 points will be endorsed on your license record
• A number of motor insurance companiesrequire their policyholders to declare all traffic convictions. It is expected that penalty points will be included in these declarations.

2010 Guide to Penalties for Drink Driving Offences

Up to 2010, 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood was the limit. This is now reduced to 50mg for "ordinary" drivers. For learning of professional drivers, the limit goes from 80mg to 20mg

If you are in a accident, you will be asked to provide a breath sample, if an injury is caused.

OFFENCE	Minimum Period
	1st Offence	2nd Offence
Blood alcohol level per 100 ml of blood
Exceeding 50 mg but not exceeding 100 mg "Ordinary" drivers	1 Year	2 Years
Exceeding 20 mg but not exceeding 100 mg Professional and Learning drivers	1 Year	2 Years
Exceeding 100 mg but not exceeding 150 mg	2 Years	4 Years
Exceeding 150 mg or over	3 Years	6 Years
Refusal offences	4 Years	6 Years
Breath Alcohol Concentration
Exceeding 35 mg but not exceeding 44 mg	1 Year	2 Years
Exceeding 45 mg but not exceeding 66 mg	2 Years	4 Years
Exceeding 67 mg or over	3 Years	6 Years
Refusal offences	4 Years	6 Years
Urine Alcohol Concentration
Exceeding 107 but not exceeding 135mg	1 Year	2 Years
Exceeding 136 but not exceeding 200mg	2 Years	4 Years
Exceeding 201 or over	3 Years	6 Years
Refusal offences	4 Years	6 Years

Fine

The maximum fine one may receive upon conviction is €2,500 as per Section 49(6)(a) of the Road Traffic Act 1994.

Commencement of Proceedings

The prosecution of a Drunk Driving Offence commences in the DistrictCourt, we would suggest that once you have received a Charge Sheet or aSummons for an offence that you contact the office immediately toarrange a consultation with a Solicitor.

Early Restoration

If you have been Disqualifiedyou may apply to the District Court for an early restoration of yourlicence, one may only apply where they have received a Disqualificationthat is more that 2 years. The District Court may hear an applicationfor an early restoration after one has served 1/2 of theirdisqualification period and the Court may order the restoration of thelicence after one has completed 2/3rd's of the Disqualification period.