Donegal drivers see high increases in driving penalty points and disqualifications

Drivers in Donegal faced the highest percentage growth of penalty points from 2023 to 2025, according to statistics released by the Government.

The Department of Transport released two reports for 2023 and 2025, respectively, which showed that the number of unique driver notifications for penalty points received in Donegal increased by 69.6%, the largest increase for a county in the country.

The number of unique driver notifications for disqualifications in Donegal increased by 22.8%.

Nationally, in 2023, there were 170,249 unique driver notifications for penalty points, compared to 185,277 in 2025, an increase of 8.8%. 

In Donegal, there were 3,840 unique driver notifications for penalty points in 2023, which increased to 6,514 in 2025. Sligo was the only county in the country that had a comparable increase to Donegal, with a 61.5% rise. 

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Regarding the number of unique driver notifications received for disqualifications nationally, there were 12,012 records in 2023, compared to 12,144 in 2025. Nationally, there was an increase recorded of 1.1%, much lower than that recorded in Donegal of 22.8%.

Within Donegal, there were 366 unique driver notifications for disqualifications in 2025, compared to 298 in 2023. Only Carlow (27%) and Meath (25.8%) had a higher rise during the recorded years.

The data has been operated by the National Vehicle and Driver File (NVDF), which is a state database operated and maintained by the Department of Transport. The NVDF contains the details of all registered vehicles and their owners, as well as of all licensed drivers in the state. Every motorist has their own unique driving number.