Gardaí will be mounting checkpoints this weekend in a major clampdown on drink drivers in the run up to Christmas.
Assistant Garda Commissioner Eddie Rock vowed gardaí would be targeting accident blackspots in a bid to stop people driving under the influence of drink or drugs and speeding.
"Our enforcement is going to be ramped up and up and up, until such a time as we force the compliance culture, no matter what we have to do we have to force people into a better compliance culture," he said. "That is in relation to the drink driving, the penalty points and the dangerous driving."
Mr Rock said visible Garda checkpoints would be mounted on roads and in areas with high accident rates.
"This will commence in the lead up to Christmas which is a particular time again of the year which causes tragedy for so many families," he said.
The operation will run in conjunction with a campaign from National Safety Council.
Mr Rock said there was a significant increase of 50 per cent in the number of people arrested for drink driving on the October Bank Holiday weekend.
He said there would be 240 officers in the Garda Traffic Corps next year - a 50 per cent increase in resources.
"Now I know the vast majority of motorists are very, very compliant. But it is the small percentage of people, not just in relation to the drink driving but in relation to the downright bad behaviour on the roads, who are creating the problems on roads, and creating the deaths on roads and such hardship and trauma and torment for families," he told RTÉ Radio.