One in ten drivers or as many as 284,000 people, have admitted to getting behind the wheel after drinking over the past year.
Almost 6,000 arrests have been made between January and the end of October, most of whom were men.
Despite the perception that older people drink drive more, over half of those arrested were aged between 20 and 39.
The survey by the Road Safety Authority's coincides with the launch of the Christmas crackdown campaign.
A big target for Gardaí over the next six weeks will be checkpoints on the 'morning after'.
That's when some motorists who have a big night out will still be over the limit the following day.
So far this year 12 per cent of arrests for drink driving have been between 8am and 2pm.
