A total of 18,676 uninsured vehicles were seized by gardaí last year, a 67 per cent increase on the 2023 tally.
The rise coincides with the introduction of the Irish Motor Insurance Database (IMID) in 2024. This was set up to provide motor insurance details for all vehicles on Irish roads, allowing gardaí at checkpoints to identify any uninsured vehicles in seconds through their hand-held mobile devices or via automatic number plate recognition systems.
The first IMID annual report also shows the number of insurance-related summonses and charges issued by gardaí rose from 21,198 in 2023 to 26,904 in 2024.
According to the report, from January to December 2024 the details for 3,471,083 vehicles and 5,629,873 drivers were passed to the Garda, making them available in seconds to individual gardaí at the roadside.
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From the end of this month the next phase of the IMID project will make it an offence for any insurance provider or broker to issue a motor insurance policy where the individual motorist’s driver number, located on all driving licences, has not been provided.
This means that anyone who does not provide the driver number for all named drivers on their policy will not be able to receive motor insurance.
The database is organised by the Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland (MIBI), an independent body which compensates victims of uninsured drivers, as well as the industry body Insurance Ireland, the Garda and the Department of Transport.
David Fitzgerald, chief executive of the bureau, said over the last year “the power of this new tool” could be seen helping to “apprehend thousands more uninsured drivers”.
Writing in the annual report, Mr Fitzgerald told Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien the database “represents a new dawn in the battle against uninsured driving”.
“In light of the high level of uninsured driving in this country, with approximately 188,000 uninsured vehicles on our roads in 2022, the Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland has long sought the implementation of a tool that would quickly provide the legal authorities with details on the motor insurance policies in place for any vehicle operating on Irish roads,” he said.
A spokesman for the IMID told The Irish Times the issue of the cost of premiums for compliant drivers, and whether premiums would reduce as a result of better detection of uninsured drivers, was a matter for the industry body Insurance Ireland.
He said costs arising from uninsured drivers was currently adding between €30 and €35 to each compliant driver’s annual insurance premium. He said “hopefully” in time the database would lead to a reduction in premiums.
Insurance Ireland was approached for comment.
