Courts should be ‘uncompromising’ in punishment for those who drink and drive, Taoiseach says

The courts should be “uncompromising” in delivering punishment to those who drink and drive, the Taoiseach has said. His comments come after a Fianna Fáil TD was arrested in late May on suspicion of the offence. Speaking on his way into a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, the Fianna Fáil leader said the “standard precedent” in political parties was for the courts to decide, after Wicklow-Wexford TD Malcolm Byrne was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving on May 28. “No one’s ever comfortable with that [drink-driving], and the standard precedent within the Oireachtas and pertaining to all political parties in the past has been the courts should mete out the punishment to the individual and should be uncompromising in doing that,” Mr Martin said. “Due process should apply here, but it’s unacceptable in my view that anyone would be drink-driving in any shape or form.” When asked if he was comfortable that a member of his own party would appear before the courts, Mr Martin said: “That will go before the courts, but I can’t pre-empt what the courts may do. “The precedent has always been that the courts take action in respect of these transgressions in relation to road traffic offences.” Mr Martin said he was “not aware of any case involving road traffic offences that action over and above what transpired in courts took place, but we keep everything under review [as a party]”. In June, Mr Byrne stood down as chair of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence after his arrest. At the time, he said the decision to stand down from his role was “entirely” his own and that he believed it was “the right course of action”. Mr Byrne, who was elected to the Dáil in 2024, said he was stepping down from his role as chair “without prejudice to the ongoing legal process arising from my arrest on suspicion of drink-driving”. In June, the Irish Independent revealed that Mr Byrne was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving after he failed a breath test at a garda checkpoint in Dublin city centre. Mr Byrne declined to comment in response to the remarks made on Wednesday by Mr Martin.