Home > Dáil Éireann debate. Question 426 – Alcohol sales [3989/25].

[Oireachtas] Dáil Éireann debate. Question 426 – Alcohol sales [3989/25]. (11 Feb 2025)

External website: https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2025...


426. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Justice the number of inspections carried out by gardaí on licensed premises in the on-trade, to ensure full compliance with alcohol licensing legislation and the number of prosecutions brought in relation to the licence breaches (details supplied), from 2014 to 2024, by year, by county, and in tabular form. [3989/25]

Jim O'Callaghan, Minister for Justice: As the Deputy will be aware, in accordance with the Garda Síochána Act 2005 (as amended), the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the general management and administration of An Garda Síochána, including liquor licensing inspections. As Minister, I have no role in these matters.

The below table, provided to me by the Garda authorities, outlines the number of inspections carried out by Gardaí on licensed premises in each year since 2014, by Garda Division.

Numbers of Inspections recorded:

Region/Division

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

Dublin Region

D.M.R. Eastern

133

91

51

61

<10

229

4394

534

67

82

D.M.R. North Central

507

291

184

407

500

616

4711

453

221

320

D.M.R. Northern

391

245

105

76

88

118

4488

654

282

108

D.M.R. South Central

352

234

166

346

80

61

4401

305

777

438

D.M.R. Southern

346

358

389

89

139

218

6293

721

508

903

D.M.R. Western

771

451

428

268

182

152

3282

397

134

76

Eastern Region (NEW)

Kildare Div

275

195

579

355

250

433

2581

316

502

264

Laois/Offaly

314

265

317

340

367

409

2572

1343

942

519

Meath/Westmeath

547

323

498

827

768

853

2962

1254

615

345

Waterford/Kilkenny/Carlow

1070

1044

733

872

1064

946

5398

1819

1530

1320

Wexford/Wicklow

1005

992

1129

553

690

982

3038

1047

850

770

North Western Region

Donegal

2897

3951

4137

3280

2813

3770

4809

1190

1066

436

Galway Div

1430

1607

1039

720

820

774

2500

691

665

900

Louth/Cavan/Monaghan

1916

1255

1659

1496

1127

852

3689

1352

655

319

Mayo/Roscommon/Longford

852

732

996

861

998

901

3688

1685

628

477

Sligo/Leitrim

511

1007

640

491

376

323

1553

225

146

92

Southern Region (NEW)

Clare/Tipperary

1708

2205

2692

1920

1660

1666

4969

2078

1986

1423

Cork City

2360

3168

1988

1829

2132

1657

4179

1319

1334

1017

Cork County

3419

2598

2342

1613

2329

2731

9822

7947

6513

4118

Kerry

2432

2722

2095

1817

1500

1496

4996

2806

2366

2050

Limerick

655

517

602

903

849

900

3270

866

979

630

The following table outlines the number of breaches recorded under each offence for the years requested:

Incident Type

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

Liquor Licensing

915

759

555

521

396

374

235

193

163

127

128

Provision of Intoxicating Liquor to Under 18 Year Olds

25

25

26

32

11

20

11

<10

<10

<10

12

Purchase or Consumption of Alcohol by Under 18 Year Olds

273

237

260

200

118

92

52

30

29

12

12

Sale of Intoxicating Liquor to Under 18 Year Olds

63

71

71

79

67

51

26

59

43

29

30

I am advised that this information is taken from a search of the PULSE database on 4 February 2025. Where the data set falls below the threshold of 10 incidents in each year, the Garda authorities are not in a position to provide this data for data protection reasons.

As the Deputy will be aware, prosecutions are a matter for the Director of Prosecutions, who is fully independent in her functions under Section 2(5) of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1974 (as amended). As Minister I have no role in the operations, functions, governance or oversight of the Office of the DPP and I am unable to provide any information or statistics relating to the Director's work as a result. Additionally, management of the courts are the responsibility of the judiciary and Courts Service. The Courts Service has a dedicated email address for the provision of information to members of the Houses of the Oireachtas: oireachtasenquiries@courts.ie

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