People who are socialising over the festive period are being advised to ensure they plan their journeys in order to get home safely.
It comes as some transport groups have warned that a lack of appropriate public transport could cause problems over the coming days.
Significant increased demand for taxis and public transport is expected this weekend, which is one of the busiest of the year for socialising in city and town centres.
The Chief Executive of the Vintners' Federation of Ireland, Pat Crotty said they are very concerned about the lack of taxis during this very busy time.
He said a lack of taxis around the country is an issue every weekend but it is exacerbated at Christmas; "People have to get home safely and indeed, our staff have to get home as well."
Mr Crotty is also part of the Taxis for Ireland Coalition which represents a number of vintners, restaurants and tourism businesses.
It wants taxi numbers to be increased.
Mr Crotty said the cost of getting a taxi licence is excessive and that one solution could be part-time drivers; "the same as the pub business, we bring in part-timers at the weekends for when we are very busy; we need the same in the taxi service".
He went on to say it is so busy on nights out in towns and cities that "business is being left on the street; it's not taking business away from existing drivers because the existing drivers are not able to service it anyway."
There is a warning too that increased demand for public transport over the coming days will cause significant problems.
The Dublin Commuter Coalition described a reduction in some DART and bus services as "extremely frustrating".
There will be no Irish Rail service on the line between Connolly and Grand Canal Dock because a full track renewal will be carried out.
The line will be closed from 26 December to 5 January but there will be limited exceptions over the New Year period with services between Pearse Station and Grand Canal Dock running for late night New Year's trains and daytime on Thursday, 2 and Friday, 3 January.
🚨Revised timetables Christmas Eve 24th Dec 2024 to New Year's Day 1st Jan 2025 inclusive
— Iarnród Éireann (@IrishRail) December 18, 2024
🚨No trains on Christmas Day 25th & St Stephen's Day 26th
🚨Line closed Connolly to Grand Canal Dock 27th Dec 2024 to 5th Jan 2025 inclusive for major works
ℹ️https://t.co/r50m243zqx pic.twitter.com/SVrDYX1ZZV
Barry Kenny, Head of Corporate Communications, Iarnród Éireann, said this is the best time of year to carry out this work.
"It is actually the quietest time of the year on DART and commuter services and the track needs a full replacement and if we did over several weekends it would mean a lot more disruption," he said.
However, the Dublin Commuter Coalition said that due to a delay in the introduction of Phase 6A of BusConnects service, there will be further disruption for public transport users.
Its chairperson Jason Cullen said people will be waiting longer than normal for their regular buses over the Christmas period.
"The service is going to be like a Saturday or Sunday service; that will mean a massive demand the 46A and 145 routes and those bus users are going to find very full buses over the Christmas period," he said.
All the groups involved in public and private transport are agreed on one thing; that is the hope that people plane ahead to ensure a safe journey is completed over this festivities.
Read more:
Dublin Bus to expand overnight services during Christmas
Taxi fare increases 'will get more drivers onto the road'
