A crackdown on detecting uninsured drivers should increase this year as technology improves, according to a transport consultant.
There has been an 11% rise in the number of claims over accidents caused by uninsured cars.
The Motor Insurers' Bureau of Ireland (MIBI) has released the figures showing 187 extra claims in 2023.
The largest number of claims for uninsured drivers came in Dublin, followed by Cork, Limerick, Kildare and Galway.
Nine counties recorded a drop in the number of claims with the biggest falls in Leitrim, Offaly and Sligo.
Transport Consultant Conor Faughnan told Newstalk Breakfast the figure has not improved.
"This is problem that's been with us for a long time," he said.
"It's been estimated over the years that anything between 5% and 8% of all cars on the road could be uninsured.
"It's a persistent number [and] it hasn't got any better."
'Optimistic'
Mr Faughnan said he believes a crackdown on uninsured drivers will have an effect in the coming year.
"If there's a reason to be optimistic... enforcement on uninsured driving should be significantly better this year compared to last year," he said.
"That's partly Garda resources but it's also technology.
"The technology enabling Gardaí to detect uninsured cars at the side of the road has been significantly improved [with] the realtime database that went live last November."
'Database is now synched'
Mr Faughnan said realtime information has caught up with the the roadside technology.
"It should be the case that it'll be harder to get away with this offence this year and more people will be caught," he said.
"But last year that perennial problem got worse not better.
"The mechanism for catching people is better than it used to be.
"The Gardaí have had these ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) cameras in their cars for a number of years now that can automatically read registration plates."
Mr Faughnan said they were previously limited by an "incomplete" underlying database of insurance policies.
"That made the roadside tool very difficult for the Guards to use," he said.
"Since last November the database is now sort of properly synched.
"So if you drive an uninsured car past a Garda camera, all of the things being equal, that camera should create a ping alarm for the Gardaí and you should be detected straight away," he added.
Figures for 2022 show that one-in-12 private vehicles on the road in Ireland last year did not have valid insurance.
