Over 5,000 uninsured vehicles seized during first three months of 2026
Over 5,000 vehicles were seized during the first three months of the year for driving uninsured on Irish roads, an increase of 4.1 per cent on the same period in 2025.
The new Gardaí figures also show that 6,542 charges and summons for no insurance were issued during January, February and March this year, a 2.4 per cent rise on 2025.
Gardaí say they conducted more than one million vehicle lookups in the first three months of 2026, a 17.5 per cent increase on the number of checks that took place during the same period last year.
Between January and March, Gardaí used technology, which now includes enhanced driver data, to check 1,072,349 vehicles. This compares to 917,487 checks which took place during that period in 2025.
Ireland last year recorded one of the highest rates in Europe for uninsured or unregistered vehicles, with more than 211,000 detected on roads.
David Fitzgerald, CEO of the Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland (MIBI), said it is “a major challenge for An Garda Síochána with their finite resources to address such high levels of illegal activity”.
The MIBI is today hosting a Data Driven Road Safety Seminar in Dublin, where leaders from the motor insurance sector, Government, An Garda Síochána and road safety organisations will gather to examine how improved data-sharing and collaboration can strengthen enforcement, reduce uninsured driving and enhance road safety outcomes nationwide.
Attendees will hear how enhanced data capabilities are being used in frontline policing and enforcement, utilising the Irish Motor Insurance Database (IMID), an information tool managed by the MIBI which enables Gardaí to check in seconds the insurance status of the vehicle and its driver.
Progress achieved to date will be outlined during the event, and with discussion on how data-led approaches can be further embedded within Ireland’s wider road safety ecosystem. This will include the potential introduction of Continuous Vehicle Coverage (CVC), a system which requires insurance to be tied to vehicle ownership, as opposed to the current situation where an offence only occurs if an uninsured driver is caught driving a vehicle on Irish roads.
Such a system is widely used across Europe and would move the focus of enforcement around uninsured vehicles from being policing led, to administration led.
The seminar will also explore innovation in policing, insights from the Road Safety Authority, and the evolving role of insurers and enforcement agencies in supporting safer roads through collaboration and technology.
“We need to be smart in how we use technology and data,” Fitzgerald added. “That is what CVC offers, as has been proven across Europe. If we want to make Irish roads safer and ensure better compliance, while also reducing the level of burden being placed on the Gardaí, CVC seems like the obvious solution.”