An alleged spiking incident is being reported to gardaí on average once every six days, new figures show.
A total of 339 cases of a person’s drink being spiked or an individual being unknowingly injected with a drug were reported between January 2021 and December last year.
Official figures provided to Sinn Féin TD Mark Ward showed that 61 cases were reported in 2021, 107 in 2022, 52 in 2023, 61 in 2024 and 58 in 2025.
This amounts to an average of one incident every six days during the five-year period, or an average of 67 cases per year during this time.
Between 2017 and 2020, an average of 19 cases per year were reported to gardaí.
The new figures come after victim support groups raised fresh concerns over the risk of spiking in Ireland.
In a statement this evening, Mr Ward said: “It is important to note that these figures are only the ones that have been reported. Gardaí and other sexual violence support groups fear that many incidents go unreported.
“The Sexual Violence Centre in Cork have said that spiking is endemic in society, that the figures reported are ‘only the tip of the iceberg’ and that there is a stigma attached to reporting.
“The Sexual Assault Treatment Unit report that 19% of people who attended their units in 2025 said they were concerned that spiking was involved.
“This cannot become the new norm.”
Mr Ward added he believes in his view new laws specifically focused on spiking may be needed to address the situation.
“Spiking can be extremely distressing for people, and the lack of a clear route to toxicology testing is also raised as an obstacle.
“At the moment there is no standalone legislation for spiking offences and none of the reports since 2022 have resulted in a prosecution under the legislation that does include spiking.
“Britain introduced standalone legislation earlier this year; this is something to pay close attention to.
“We need to see this being taken seriously by the Government,” he said.