The number of motorists caught drink-driving has risen by 23 per cent in the first six months of the year, despite an intensive multi-million euro Government television campaign urging motorists not to drink and drive.
Motorists are now being caught drink-driving almost as regularly as during the Christmas period when the problem has traditionally been at its worst and enforcement at its highest.
New Garda figures obtained by The Irish Times reveal that 7,863 people were detected driving under the influence in the six months to June 30th, an increase on the 6,408 detections during the same period last year.
The latest figures mean an average of 305 motorists have been detected drink-driving every week since the start of the year.
This is almost as high as the 320 weekly detections during the most recent Christmas and new year Garda drink-driving crackdown.
Since the beginning of the year numbers in the Garda Traffic Corps have increased from 520 members to 680 at present.
A further 120 additional members will be assigned by the end of the year.
Gardaí have also staged a number of so-called super checkpoints, manned by a large number of gardaí, during which all motorists are stopped and engaged in conversation to ascertain if they have been drinking.
It has also emerged that gardaí issued more than 93,000 fixed charged penalty notices between April 3rd, when the system was computerised, and the end of June. These were for a variety of offences including speeding, not wearing seat belts, dangerous overtaking, driving too closely to the vehicle in front and traffic light infringements. Some 69,000 of the notices involved the issuing of penalty points. Of the total 93,279 issued, some 46,900 were for speeding, meaning an average of 550 motorists are detected speeding every day.
The new figures come immediately after one of the worst periods for road deaths this year. Twelve people have died in road crashes in the Republic since Saturday.
Drink-driving detection rates have risen despite the regular screening of the National Safety Council's "Just One" television campaign. Its central theme is that just one drink can impair driving.
The advertisement features scenarios in which viewers are shown the possible implications of their drink-driving, including their own deaths and those of innocent bystanders.
The campaign, which is a cross-Border initiative, was launched at the end of November. It features advertisements on 14 channels in Ireland and the UK including RTÉ, Sky, TV3, TG4, Channel 4, MTV and Setanta.
