A report from the HSE has found more people are seriously injured in road crashes than previously reported by authorities.
It shows that 14,861 people were treated as inpatients in hospital between 2005 and 2009 after road traffic collisions, which is three and a half times greater than the number of serious injuries reported by the Road Safety Authority, using An Garda Síochána data.
The cost to the health service for treating these injuries is estimated at around €20m a year.
The report was compiled by the HSE Dublin North East's department of public health and used information from the Hospital Inpatient Enquiry system.
Two-thirds of injured persons were male and July and August were the two most common months for admissions.
