Being disqualified from driving

The penalties for driving offences depend on how serious the offence is and if you broke the laws for driving before.

You might have to:

• Pay a fine
• Get penalty points on your driving licence
• Be banned from driving
• Go to prison in the most severe cases

If you are disqualified from driving, you are banned for a set time.

This happens if you:

• Get too many penalty points on your licence
• Are convicted of certain driving offences

You must return your licence, and you cannot drive until the ban ends and you get your licence back. Driving while disqualified is a serious offence and can lead to heavy fines, prison or both.

This page outlines the rules about how you may lose your licence and be banned or suspended from driving (be disqualified) for a period of time.

It includes information on:

• The types of disqualification orders
• What happens if you get a disqualification order
• How to apply to get your licence back after being disqualified

Legislation

Driving offences in Ireland are set out in the Road Traffic Acts (as amended).

The following organisations all work together to enforce driving laws:

• The Road Safety Authority (RSA)
• The Department of Transport
• The Courts Service
• An Garda Síochána (Irish police)

In general, there are 2 ways you can be disqualified from driving:

• You get too many penalty points (endorsements) on your licence or learner permit within a set period.
• You are convicted of a driving offence, and the penalty disqualifies you from driving.

Disqualification through penalty points

Penalty points are added (endorsed) to your licence by the Gardaí when you are guilty of a specific driving offence.

You get penalty points added your driving licence when:

• You are convicted in court of a driving offence that caries penalty points.
• You pay a fixed charge notice (fine) for an offence that carries penalty points.

If you go over the penalty point limit, the RSA will send you a letter with the date your disqualification starts. You must surrender (return) your licence within 14 days of that date.

(See ‘Surrendering your licence’ below).

Disqualification through conviction

Not all driving offences resulting in an automatic disqualification require you to attend court. In most cases, a Garda will issue you with a fixed charge notice (fine).

You can either:

• Pay the fine and accept the disqualification
• Not pay the fine and allow the matter to go to court

For example, if you hold a valid licence or learner permit at the time of committing a drink driving offence and your alcohol level is above a certain limit, you may receive a fine. If you pay the fine within 28 days, the disqualification order will be imposed, but you will not have to go to court.

However, the Gardaí can arrest you for some offences, such as drink driving or dangerous driving. And a small number of very serious offences result in automatic summons to court without the option of paying a fine.

You can find out more about how criminal trials work.

You can also read about criminal legal aid and the services available from Free Legal Advice Centres (FLAC) and Citizen Information Services.

Surrendering your licence after a court order

Depending on the type of disqualification order made by a court, you will be required to surrender your licence to the National Driver Licence Service (NDLS) within 10 or 14 days of start of the order.

After receiving your licence, the NDLS will keep it and update your driver record.

Your record will also be updated on the National Vehicle and Driver File (NVDF).

The NDLS will return your driving licence after your period of disqualification, or if the disqualification order is removed.

It is an offence not to surrender your licence, which carries a maximum fine of €1,000 on first conviction and up to €2,500 on a second or further conviction.

If you drive while disqualified, you may face a fine of up to €5,000 or a prison term of 6 months, or both.

How to appeal a driving ban

If you are convicted of a driving offence and disqualified from driving in the District Court, you generally have 14 days to appeal the decision.

To appeal, you need to submit 2 documents to District Court Clerk where your disqualification decision was made.

• Notice of appeal
• Statutory declaration of service

Appeals from the District Court usually go to the Circuit Court.

If you appeal your conviction, your disqualification will be put on hold until the appeal is decided.

There are 3 types of driver disqualification orders in Ireland. Which order you receive depends on the offence.

Consequential disqualification (Automatic)

This is the most serious and is an automatic disqualification under law.

The court does not have discretion in relation to convictions in this category.

For example:

• If you are convicted of dangerous driving causing death, you face the same penalties as for manslaughter, including a minimum 4-year driving ban.
• If you are convicted of drink driving in the District Court, you will automatically lose your licence for at least 6 months.

If a consequential disqualification order is made by a court, you generally have 10 days to surrender your licence.

However, if the disqualification is from having too many penalty points, you have 14 days to surrender your licence.

Ancillary Disqualification (Court can decide)

This is serious but does not mean an automatic disqualification under law.

The court can disqualify you for any offence under the Road Traffic Act 1961 (as amended) which is not automatic.

The court will decide how long the disqualification order will last based on:

• How serious the offence is
• How likely you are to re-offend

For example, if you are convicted of driving without due care and attention, the law does not require that you be disqualified from driving (a consequential disqualification). But if you have a record of driving offences, the court may decide this means you should be disqualified.

If an ancillary disqualification order is made by a court, you generally have 10 days to surrender their licence.

Special Disqualification (Gardaí application)

The District Court can disqualify a driver if a Garda applies to the court that a person is unfit to drive due to:

• Physical disease
• Physical or mental disability
• Incompetence

This rarely happens.

If a special disqualification order is made by a court, you generally have 14 days to surrender your licence or appeal to the Circuit Court.

Penalty points and endorsements (marks on your licence) from other countries do not carry over to your Irish driving licence. This means that if you get penalty points abroad, they do affect your licence in Ireland. This includes EU or EEA member states.

However, if you have been disqualified from driving in another country and this was in addition to a prison sentence for driving offences, you may not be able to exchange your full foreign driving licence for a full driving licence in Ireland.

Rules for Ireland and the UK

If you hold an Irish licence, and you are disqualified from driving for a serious offence in the UK, you may also be disqualified in Ireland.

The District Court can disqualify you from driving in Ireland for the offence that was committed in the UK.

The same rules apply if you are driving in Ireland on an UK licence. However, the UK authorities can disqualify you without taking separate court action.

This arrangement is under Section 40 of the Road Traffic Act 2016.

If you have been disqualified from driving, you can apply for your driving licence to be restored earlier.

You must apply to the District Court where the order to disqualify was made. An application costs €55. You must be more than halfway through your disqualification before you can make an application.

Your driving licence will not be restored if:

• The disqualification is for 2 years or less
• You have been given another disqualification in the past 10 years

The court can reduce the disqualification period to whichever is greater of:

• Two-thirds of the disqualification, or to
• 2 years

When a court is considering your restoration application, it will look at:

• The nature of the offence
• Your character
• Your conduct after conviction

You can get further information and the forms you need from the District Court clerk.

You can find more information about the different types of driving offences and the penalty points that apply.