Drug offences and drink driving incidents soar in Laois/Offaly Garda Division

Is it time to name it for what it is the acquisition of the drug for personal consumption is in direct line with the criminal suppliers, and thus is a criminal offence,

placeholder image — Is it time to name it for what it is the acquisition of the drug for personal consumption is in direct line with the criminal suppliers, and thus is a criminal offence,

Latest crime figures from CSO show a growing trend

The number of drug offences and incidents of drink driving have soared in the Laois/Offaly Garda Division, according to new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

The stats, covering the first three months of the year, reveal a 70% jump in the number of drink driving offences recorded in the Garda Division up from 30 between January and March 2024 to 51 over the same period this year.

Drug offences also significantly jumped from 95 over the three months in 2024 to 132 in 2025, a 39% rise. Offenses for drug possession for sale and supply were up from 20 to 30 (50% increase) while possession for personal use rose to 94 from 68 (up 38%).

Sexual offences in the Laois/Offaly Garda Division dropped by 33% from 30 to 20 and burglary offences fell from 90 to 59, down 34%. Thefts in the division were down from 475 in the first three months of 2024 to 420 between January and March 2025, down 11%.

Incidents of criminal damage were down 12% from 145 to 127. Public order offences increased slightly to 167 while offences in custody and breaches of the courts dropped 22% to 56. There were 109 assaults in the Division in the first three months of 2025, up slightly from 107 while incidents of assault causing harm also increased from 34 to 35.

Incidents of arson fell slightly with eight recorded between January and March 2025, down from ten in 2024.

Nationally the figures show there have been “notable” decreases in the number of homicides, burglaries, robberies and kidnappings over recent months.

Commenting on the release, Jim Dalton, Statistician in the Crime & Criminal Justice Section, said: “Recorded Crime statistics published today for January, February, and March (Q1) 2025 showed that recorded crime incidents fell for most offence groups in the year to Q1 2025 compared with the same period in 2024.

"The number of recorded crime incidents fell in ten of the fourteen offence groups in the year to Q1 2025. The largest percentage decreases were for Homicide & Related offences (-34%), Robbery, Extortion & Hijacking offences (-12%), Kidnapping & Related offences (-8%), and Burglary & Related offences (-6%). There were decreases of between 1% and 4% for the remaining offence groups where there was a fall in the number of recorded crime incidents.

"In contrast, there were increases in the number of crime incidents of Sexual offences (+15%), Public Order & Other Social Code offences (+5%), Attempts/Threats to Murder, Assaults, Harassments & Related offences (+3%), and Weapons & Explosive offences (+3%)."