Almost 28,000 suspected drink drivers were brought before the courts last year, it emerged today.
Figures released by the Courts Service revealed a massive 79 per cent jump in cases dealt with in 2006, from 15,540 in 2005 to 27,836.
District judges jailed 804 motorist, while 11,652 drivers were disqualified and almost 11,000 fined.
A further 2,510 had charges withdrawn, struck out or dismissed.
The increase in cases coincided with the introduction of random breath testing for drivers.
More than 1,000 extra District Court sittings were also held to reduce waiting times, while drink driving cases were heard at a special summer sittings in Dublin.
A Courts Service spokesman said there was an increase in three major areas of road traffic crime last year. "The introduction of random breath testing and the automatic prosecution of fixed penalty charge defaulters contributed to a 12 per cent increase in the number of road traffic cases disposed of, up from 198,412 in 2005 to 222,376 in 2006," he said.
Dangerous driving was 6,721, up from 4,448 in 2005, while unauthorised taking of a vehicle rose by 27 per cent from 1,776 to 2,254 last year. The majority of defendants were fined, while other penalties included disqualification, jail, community service and probation.
The Road Safety Authority said the data shows there is a greater chance of motorists who previously evaded detection being caught and being brought before the court quicker.
Official figures from An Garda Siochana show 237,871 motorists were detected for a range of offences in 2006. Some of these arrests - which include 181,335 for speeding, 17,868 drink drivers, 26,687 for not wearing seatbelts, 6,171 using mobile phones, and 5,810 for dangerous driving - had not yet made it through the courts system.