A Government minister has said too many drink-driving checkpoints are being carried out by Gardaí.
Minister of State Sean Canney said not enough resources are being put into tackling drug dealing.
The increased number of motorists being breathalysed has reportedly been criticised by a number of Cabinet members.
Mr Canney has said there is too much of a crackdown in the mornings when people are on their way to work or school.
The Galway East TD told Newstalk Breakfast there needs to be a balance.
"The first thing I'm going to say before I say anything else is I do not condone drink-driving - absolutely not.
"I do not support anybody who takes a drink and goes behind a steering wheel and drives a car.
"There has been a huge increase in the number of checkpoints that are happening for drink-driving in the mornings especially, it's a very notable increase.
"I have no problem with that, except that we seem to be losing the balance".
"There is a problem with drugs in our country and we need to step up to the mark in prevention and detection, education - as well as making sure that we have the Garda on the beat at the schools to make sure that this activity doesn't go on unnoticed."
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"What has been happening in the last number of months is there has been a racking up in people's minds of the amount of checkpoints on people who are going about their daily lives.
"I suppose people feel that they are being trodden upon at times of the day when they're genuinely trying to bring their children to school.
"I don't know of anybody who takes drink and then brings their children to school".
He added: "I know of some person who was breathalyzed twice in the one day on his way to work".
"What's happening at the moment is that 'Joe Public' - the ordinary, honest person going to work in the morning - are feeling persecuted.
"The ordinary person going to work feels that they're being pulled in... It's a challenge to get into work with traffic, but to have Garda checkpoints on a very, very regular basis holding up traffic it is also an annoyance".
Figures from the Road Safety Authority (RSA) show in the period of January to December 2018, there were 142 fatal collisions resulting in 149 fatalities on Irish roads.
This was an increase of 1% in collisions and 4% fewer deaths, compared to provisional Garda data for 2017.
Listen to Minister Sean Canney's interview with Newstalk Breakfast below.
