Over €500,000 in fines have been issued over the last nine months, over non-compliant car licence plates, according to figures released to Dublin West TD Emer Currie.
These figures had revealed that €502,440 in fines were issued since October last year, due to motorists using non compliant licence plates on Irish roads.
It was also confirmed that 8,374 fixed charge notices were issued since the new regulations were introduced in October 2025. November was reported as the peak month for fines, with Gardaí handing down 1,451 fines for illegal number plates.
However, according to the latest figures for June 2026, Gardaí have stopped 840 cars for issues over licencing plates. Across the nine months since the introduction of these regulations, the number of fines have actually dropped below 700.
Speaking about this, according to the Irish Independent, Emer Currie said: “At €60 per fixed-charge notice, that amounts to over €500,000 for fines for illegal number plates [since October]".
“A clampdown of illegal plates, I believe, can lead to the detection of other road-traffic violations", she said.
Elsewhere, Emer Currie, TD for Fine Gael, said that the new legislation which was aimed at cracking down on motorists who flout this law, including non compliant registration plate regulations which were introduced in October 2025, would not have been possible if it was not for the pressure exerted by various road safety groups, including Parc.
Motorists who do not comply with these rules regarding licence plates are aimed at making speed detections by GoSafe speed more difficult.
It was also revealed that motorists who continue to use special artwork-type designs which, despite being permitted in some other countries, are prohibited in Ireland.
In other cases, it was reported that motorists have been displaying broken plates, with letters and numbers missing.
Safety groups have warned that the strict enforcement of all regulations regarding road safety are important, including a policy which leads to an increased level of compliance with everything from vehicle maintenance to manner of driving and speeding.
So far this year, 126 people have died on Irish roads, which represents a 17% increase in fatality rates for the same period last year.
There are growing concerns from road safety campaigners that at the current state of fatalities, Ireland could be set for its worst year for traffic deaths in 16 years, which saw 212 people die on Irish roads in 2010.
Since 2010, Ireland has not recorded more 200 or more road deaths in a single year.
So far, out of the 126 road deaths this year, this includes, 50 drivers, 25 passengers, 20 pedestrians, 18 motorcycles, and nine pedal. All 26 counties in the Republic of Ireland have recorded road traffic deaths this year.
The attitudes of motorists has become a growing cause for concern when it comes to drug and drink driving, defective cars, speeding, reckless driving and people driving without insurance. It was also reported that almost 400,000 motorists have been driving while on learner permits.
