THOUSANDS OF DISQUALIFIED drivers who have been ordered to surrender their driving licences in the past three years have ignored a legal requirement to do so.

And thousands more did not even have a licence when they were disqualified by the courts, for reasons including already being disqualified.

Of almost 21,000 who had a licence when they received a driving ban over 2021-2023, just 5,000 surrendered it to the National Driver Licence Service as is requred by law to happen within two weeks.

Aontú TD Peadar Tóibín said the figures suggest a “large number” of disqualified drivers are “still carrying licences and driving on our roads”.

Leo Lieghio’s daughter Marsia died at the age of 16 after being knocked down while crossing the road by a woman who was under a driving ban at the time, having previously been convicted of drink driving.

Lieghio said disqualified drivers’ cars should be impounded. He said this would show the government was serious about road safety.

Marsia Lieghio

“If someone is disqualified and their car is sitting outside the front door, of course they are going to get back in,” Lieghio said.

“People have to see they can’t carry on the way they are carrying on”.

There’s no fear out there. A road traffic crime is treated as a minor offence.

“People are dying on our roads right, left and centre,” Lieghio said.

Last year was the worst for road fatalities in almost a decade, with 184 people losing their lives, a 19% increase year on year.

Figures released to The Journal show that a total of 32,700 drivers were disqualified over 2021-2023, the vast majority by the courts rather than as a result of amassing 12 penalty points. More than a third of these did not hold a licence.

The Road Safety Authority (RSA) said that as well as previous disqualification, this could be due to licences expiring or drivers never having obtained a licence in the first place.

Driving while disqualified is an offence carrying a maximum sentence of six months in prison and/or a €5,000 fine.

Lieghio, a member of the Irish Road Victims’ Association, said this penalty would only have a deterrant effect if the maximum sentence – including imprisonment – was consistently handed down, which he did not believe it was.

Leo Lieghio speaking at an Axa Roadsafe Roadshow event in 2018 Colm Mahady / Fennells Colm Mahady / Fennells / Fennells

Aontú TD Peadar Tóibín said the numbers surrendering their licences was “staggeringly low” and “extremely concerning”.

Tóibín said the “scandal” of disqualified drivers keeping their licence recurred “year after year”.

“We’re always assured that it will be resolved, but it’s still ongoing. Aontú is calling for clarity from the Justice Minister on this matter,” he said.

The Department of Justice declined to comment.

Enforcement

There have been recent cases in which disqualified drivers have been convicted of further road traffic offences.

Earlier this month, a Dublin man with two active disqualifications pleaded guilty to one count of reckless endangerment and one count of dangerous driving, after speeding away from a garda checkpoint down the wrong side of the road at 100km/h in a 50km/h zone, breaking a red light.

Last month, a 23-year-old disqualified driver pleaded guilty to a charge of dangerous driving and endangerment after dragging a garda 40 metres along a Co Kildare road having resisted having his car seized. The garda suffered serious head injuries.

Asked for comment on the disqualication figures, the RSA said gardaí had access to data on the National Vehicle Driver File (NVDF) which allowed them to detect and prosecute drivers who continued to drive while disqualified.

An Garda Síochána said it has purchased almost 15,000 scanners which can read both registration plates and driving licences and feed them information from the NVDF, including on disqualification. At the moment, the technology is being rolled out in the Dublin east and Louth/Cavan/Monaghan divisions.

Jack Chambers, the junior minister responsible for road safety, said last year that the scanners meant gardaí could detect disqualified drivers regardless of whether they have surrendered their licence or learner permit, adding that driving while disqualified was an offence with or without a licence.

Offences leading to automatic disqualification include drink driving – ranging from 3 months to 6 years, depending on whether the case goes to court and whether it is a first offence – and dangerous driving causing death.

However, the courts can also impose a disqualification order for other offences, such as driving without due care and attention, particularly in cases where a person has a record of driving offences.

The Department of Transport was unable to comment at the time of writing.