More than 700 drivers have been arrested on suspicion of drink-driving since the start of the Christmas road safety campaign late last month. The figure is slightly higher than last year.
Drivers are arrested under the Road Traffic Act if they fail a breathalyser test: they are then taken to a Garda station to give a blood or urine sample. Motorists can also be arrested for failing to provide a breath test.
Around 40,000 checkpoints are being mounted by gardai during the Christmas campaign to deter drunk driving and other motoring offences.
Additional resources were allocated to this year's campaign as part of a greater emphasis on safety operations to reduce the number of road deaths. By the end of last month 434 people had died in roads accidents, 16 more than in the same period last year.
The worst single month for road deaths this year was May, when 53 people died. The toll was almost as bad in October, when there were 52 deaths. Forty-three people were killed in September.
The continuing high level of road deaths has prompted a Government review of road safety operations, and in the new year the Government will introduce a national road safety strategy. It will involve joint operations by the Garda, the Department of the Environment, local authorities, the National Safety Council and the courts.
The Garda Traffic Bureau, under Chief Supt John O'Brien, is also to review the results from Operation Lifesaver, which has been in operation in the Louth/Meath area since June. Since the operation was introduced there has been a reduction in road deaths compared with last year.
It is expected that Operation Lifesaver will be extended throughout the State, and additional resources devoted to reducing road deaths.