Drink-driving enforcement and an education initiative are to be stepped up following a rise in road deaths in the last 12 months.
The garda and Road Safety Authority campaign will run until the end of August.
It follows a 15% rise in road deaths this year compared to 2015.
Since January 86 people have been killed on the roads - 11 more than last year.
Gardaí say July and August are traditionally high risk months for drink-driving.
A Garda National Traffic Bureau spokesperson has said motorists can expect to see a lot more checkpoints, breath testing and arrests for drink-driving over the coming months.
Superintendent Con O'Donoghue said people have "lapsed into their old ways" and are drink-driving more.
He said drink-driving has become a challenge again and that the younger generation in particular "haven't gotten the message".
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, he said 30% of people arrested for drink-driving were aged between 21 and 29.
Supt O'Donoghue said this was disappointing but gardaí would be "upping the ante" to combat the problem.
"We're going to treat the summer months in many ways like the Christmas period and we're stepping up our enforcement in terms of drink-driving with a number of 24-hour operations over the coming months, because July and August also tend to be very high when it comes to fatal collisions, so people can expect to see a lot more checkpoints, a lot more breath testing and a lot more arrests for drink-driving."
He added that he believed that gardaí and the RSA can combat the problem together and he urged people not to turn a blind eye to anyone they suspect of drink driving.
"It's very important that people take personal responsibility.
"We would like people to realise that this hasn't gone away and they won't be complacent.
"And the hard decision is sometimes to leave the car at home but also the hard decision is also not to allow the person who's had the drink to drive, or to report that person.
"It's an easy decision to sit back and turn a blind eye."
