Between June 1999 and June 2001, 10,433 people were caught driving under the influence of alcohol, a rise of 24 per cent, according to the Third Annual Progress Report on the Government’s Road Safety Strategy.
A further 117,000 people got on-the-spot fines for not wearing seatbelts, and 165,000 drivers were fined for speeding.
In response, the Government has allocated an additional £750,000 to the Medical Bureau of Road Safety and the National Safety Council in an effort to educate people on road safety.
The announcement follows the launch of the report earlier today that shows the number of deaths on the roads is down 12.1 per cent since the programme was launched in 1998.
Mr Robert Molloy, Minister of State at the Department of Environment, said the interim targets have been achieved and the goal of cutting road deaths in Ireland by 20 per cent by 2002 is on target.
Fine Gael spokesman on public enterprise Mr Denis Naughton has criticised the Government, which, he says, has failed to implement the policy on schedule.
"While the additional funding is welcome it falls far short of what is required to ensure that the road safety strategy is implemented in full . . . it [the funding] is too little too late for those who have been killed to date this year".