Road safety groups have expressed "horror" at figures showing about 30 motorists are being arrested for alleged drink-driving each day in the run-up to Christmas.
New statistics reveak 261 motorists were arrested during the first week of a drink-driving campaign by gardaí.
During the second week of the campaign - which began on November 25th and will run until January 5th - some 248 drivers were arrested.
Conor Faughnan, spokesman for the AA in Ireland, warned the figures may represent just a proportion of those driving under the influence of alcohol. "It is horrifying to hear there is still a whole population out there willing to take risks," he said.
"It is fair to assume that the people being caught are just the tip of the iceberg." Mr Faughnan said it was encouraging to see police in Ireland were succeeding in their attempts to catch drink drivers. "Every time somebody is caught it is possible a life is saved," he said.
Mr Pat Costello, chief executive of the National Road Safety Council, said although the number of road deaths had been cut since the introduction of a penalty point system last month, work still had to be done in combating drink-driving.
"Deaths are down quite considerably, and so are speeds," he said. "But drink-driving is a particular problem at this time." He said the Road Safety Council was campaigning heavily on against drink-driving and had issued a number of recommendations for motorists, including the use of public transport and designated-driver schemes.
This weekend a national poster campaign began in a bid to cut the number of deaths on the country's roads. Posters were distributed to parishes across Ireland with the message "Love God, Love your neighbour... Don't meet them both by accident!"
Fr Robert McCabe, chaplain at Gormanston army camp in Co Meath, said he hoped the campaign would add a Christian dimension to recent road safety schemes.