Originally Posted by pelinor

I don't think they have hard and fast clear cut rules like the UK Colleen.
As far as I understand they still give you the test on the street as the UK. But here they have mobile units. So what you would normally be arrested for and taken to a police station in the UK. Here they do it on the street.

The level of the test then predicts what happens next. I believe that if the reading is low you receive a fixed penalty and points. There must be some sort of sliding scale as to the amount of the penalty and the points awarded. However There is a threshold that when passed the police must put you before a judge.
The judge then awards the penalty.

I have posted before about a family friend who was caught drunk driving. As far as I understand he was over the limit but not paralytic. He was sent before a judge. And received, if my memory serves me right, 800 euro fine, 8 month ban and 6 months community service. Wife's in bed she would know exactly. Afraid I cannot remember exactly. The whole process took a couple of months to be sorted. In the mean time he was free to drive.

I must add this is what I have been told.