Figures on alcohol breath-testing by gardaí indicate motorists are much more likely to be tested for drink-driving in some parts of the country, after figures showed no roadside breath tests carried out in two Garda divisions in 2004.
The figures also indicate gardaí in some divisions carried out seven times as many roadside breath tests as their colleagues in other parts of the country.
An analysis by The Irish Times of Garda breathalyser figures for 2004 - the latest year available - showed the rate of roadside breath-testing ranged from less than one person per thousand in Carlow, Kildare and parts of Dublin, to nearly eight in every thousand in Galway city and the west of the county.
A total of 9,500 roadside breath tests were carried out nationwide - or just over two for every thousand people in the State. The Garda did not respond to questions, and did not provide explanation as to the differences.
Two Dublin divisions, Dublin north central (which covers the north inner city) and Dublin south (which covers areas such as Templeogue and Terenure), carried out no roadside breath-testing, although a Department of Justice spokesman has said the arrest of someone on suspicion of drink-driving did not require a breathalyser test. He said nearly 1,000 people had been arrested on suspicion of drink-driving in both areas.
Roadside breathalyser tests, using "blow-in-the-bag" kits or hand-held digital breath-testers, are used by gardaí if they suspect a driver has been drinking. Following a positive test, the garda can then arrest the driver on suspicion of drink-driving and take them to the station for a formal intoxilyzer - blood or urine - test.
Figures for intoxilyzer tests, taken at Garda stations and which can be used in court cases, also showed a wide difference between Garda divisions. Galway city and the west of the county again showed the highest rate of testing outside Dublin.
These figures did not include more than 4,000 blood and urine tests carried out at stations around the country, which may have increased the rate of some divisions which had a low number of intoxilyzer machines.
Yesterday, Opposition politicians and road safety campaigners raised concerns about the figures which they said showed the general low level of enforcement and suggested inconsistency. Labour transport spokeswoman Róisín Shortall, who obtained the basic figures from Dáil questions, called on the Government to ensure consistency across the country.
"It's very hard to understand the wide variation across the country," she said. "It's indicative of the general confusion and uncertainty that relates to the drink-driving laws."
She also said it raised concerns about the proposed introduction of random breath-testing, announced by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern last week.
Former chairman of the National Safety Council Eddie Shaw said the figures indicated the generally low level of enforcement on a national basis.
He compared them to the Australian state of Victoria, with a population of five million, where more than one million breath tests were carried out by a police force of 9,000.
According to the Medical Bureau of Road Safety, 12,161 formal blood, urine and breath specimens were taken in 2004 for analysis.
The unpublished figures showed 80 per cent of the breath tests, 89 per cent of the blood samples and 82 per cent of the urine tests exceeded the legal limit.