Garda Commissioner Pat Byrne has described drink-driving statistics for Irish motorists as "appalling" and "absolutely shameful". About 1,000 arrests are made every month for drink-driving offences - more than 37,000 since 1997.
"That is a shameful figure," he said, adding that while enforcement might be increasing "it is not changing behaviour".
He was speaking at the launch in Dublin yesterday of a safer driving radio and poster campaign which urges people to have a designated driver when they go drinking.
The Minister of State for the Environment, Mr Robert Molloy, who introduced the campaign, said they would have to change "the whole Irish psyche in regard to the use of vehicles".
He said that regardless of what resources and measures were put in place, "unless we change the attitude and behaviour of road-users we are going to continue to have high levels of accidents and fatalities".
The drink-driving figures could be said to show increasing enforcement, according to Mr Byrne. "But is it having an impact? Is it changing behaviour? It is not changing behaviour and we have to be positive to deal with this terrible, terrible problem. It is the responsibility of everyone to change the attitude of everyone who sits behind the wheel of a car after drinking too much alcohol."
He said he believed the introduction of the penalty points system, due next year, would have a strong impact on behaviour because of the significant impact losing a licence had on a person's life.
That was evident from the large numbers of people contesting their convictions for drink-driving offences, he said.
The penalty points system would be a "wake-up call" for people who had not paid attention to the impact of drink-driving on road fatalities.
Mr Molloy, when asked about the penalty points system, said it would contribute along with all the other measures to deal with the problem.
He said, however, that people would still be killed on the roads because it came down to attitude and the responsibility of the driver on the road.
The chairman of the National Safety Council, Mr Eddie Shaw, called for the Taoiseach's involvement in the budgeting of road safety.
"It is an investment programme with the benefits accruing to six departments but the costs to Environment and Justice, which "cannot carry the whole programme", he said. There was no budgetary process for road safety and Mr Ahern was the only person who could carry this across all Departments.
Opposition deputies have criticised the Minister for the delay in introducing the Road Traffic Bill, which will introduce the penalty points system.
Mr Eamon Gilmore, Labour's environment spokesman, said the Government "rushed all sorts of less urgent legislation through the Dail before the summer recess but it did not even start the debate on this crucial Bill".
Fine Gael TD Mr Denis Naughten condemned the Government's failure to meet its own road safety strategy targets, and added that the Government "has been unwilling to provide the necessary funding to implement its own strategy".
