Chapter 3 of 13 · Drink and drug driving · Checker

Fixed penalty, or court?

Checked 15 Oct 2026the Road Traffic Act 2010, sections 4 and 5, as amended in 2016 and 2018.

The limit is 50 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood, or 20 for a learner, a novice or a professional driver, with equivalents in breath and urine. A first offence in the lowest bands can be dealt with by a fixed penalty notice; everything else goes to the District Court, where section 65 fixes a minimum disqualification by band. Enter the reading and see which applies.

The reading and your licence

What was the reading, and what licence do you hold?

What happened at the stationSpecimen typeThe limit for an ordinary driver is 22 and for a specified driver 9 µg per 100 ml of breath.Reading on the certificateIn µg per 100 ml of breath, as printed on the certificate or statement.Licence typeSpecified drivers: learner permit holders; novice drivers (the first two years of a full licence); professional drivers: buses, trucks, taxis and other vehicles driven for work.Previous convictionThe longer period applies to a second or later offence under the section; the three-year and ten-year look-backs in the Act must be checked by hand.

I received a drink-driving fixed penalty notice in the last three yearsOne of the conditions for a fixed penalty notice is no such notice in the previous three years.

The result applies the bands and minimum periods in the Act to the reading you enter. It does not say whether the Garda will issue a notice, what sentence a judge would impose, or whether the procedure at the station was followed; those are for a solicitor and the court.

Ask a solicitorWorth a solicitor, soon

A drink or drug driving conviction carries a ban the judge cannot go below.

Say which court, what the paper says and where you are in it. A solicitor who is in that District Court will contact you. Legal aid comes first on this site: if you may qualify, ask the judge for it at your first appearance.

What it is about
Your court and where you are
Your details

What is it about?

Choose the kind of matter, then the one that fits. You can add a sentence in your own words at the last step.

Road traffic: which one?