The transport minister says conviction rates for drink-driving are much higher than recent reports suggest.

Paschal Donohoe has denied newspaper reports that only 40 per cent of summonses result in convictions.

He says the figures reported were faulty - because they included summonses which hadn't been processed, or cases that hadn't finished.

Last month the Irish Times reported that of all drink-driving cases at district court level, for which summonses were issued, only 40% had resulted in prosecution.

But the minister told the Dáil today that the 40% figure was based on a faulty understanding of the figures.

He said the figures cited also included cases which had not yet made it to court at all, or which had not yet completed the judicial process: