The Assistant Garda Commissioner in charge of the Garda Traffic Corps has expressed concern about the dangers of individuals who have consumed alcohol the night before believing they are fit to drive a car the next day.
Speaking on RTÉ radio's Morning Ireland yesterday, Eddie Rock also said that while his officers would not be introducing a "blitz" approach per se, they would be focusing their attempts to bring down the death toll on Irish roads.
This currently stands at 228 for this year.
Under new measures in the Road Traffic Act activated yesterday, gardaí have been empowered to carry out random breath-testing. Using a handheld mobile phone while driving has also become an offence.
"If people have alcohol in their system to such an extent as it's going to affect their driving and breach the legislation that is there, then of course it is an issue we're concerned about," he said.
"This is going to be constant, it is going to be persistent. And there will no doubt be checkpoints out [the previous night]. They will be out and they will have regard to where and when our fatalities are occurring."
Mr Rock also pointed out that 60 people have already been killed this year between midnight and 6am, with 96 people aged between 16 and 30 years also killed this year.
"We will be using our resources as best we can to target and to try to help and to stop and arrest this sort of situation.
"We will be . . . looking at the tragedies that are going on, the times they are happening, the age groups they are happening with, and where and when we should be putting out those checkpoints in particular.
"It has to be proportionate . . . if we put a checkpoint at a very very busy artery, of course we can't stop everybody . . . people will be stopped and will be, without individualised suspicion, asked to comply with the random breath-testing legislation," Mr Rock said.
He also warned that while people could still receive calls on mobile phone headsets and "hands-free" kits, drivers cannot hold a mobile phone while driving, or cradle it between their ear and shoulder.
Labour Party transport spokeswoman Róisín Shortall said the new measures, while welcome, represented "only half the task".
"It is now up to the gardaí and the traffic corps to ensure that the law is enforced."