Last year saw a 9% rise in the number of goods vehicles on Irish roads, according to the Department of Transport.

Figures for 2007 suggest around 345,674 trucks travelled across the country, compared to 318,614 in the previous year.

The Department's latest statistics are in stark contrast to 1985's figures, when there were a mere 93,369 such vehicles on the road.

In Ireland, goods vehicles represent 14.2% of all domestic traffic, while private motors account for 77%.

Geographically, Dublin has over 65,000 licensed trucks, followed by Cork's 40,760, Galway's 20,488 and Meath and Kildare licensing over 15,000 vehicles respectively.

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More than half of all goods vehicles in Ireland are more than four years old, with a 40% chunk older than six years.

At the end of 2007 there were almost two and half million registered vehicles on the Republic’s roads, a 6% increase since the previous year.

Meanwhile, in other news, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of Irish drivers caught 'texting' and making calls behind the wheel.

Despite hard-hitting advertising campaigns, the Road Safety Authority has revealed that over 40,000 penalty points have been issued to those infringing the law.

However, many safety campaigners have insisted those being caught-out are only "the tip of the iceberg".

The latest figures show almost 500 people are implicated for phone offences each week.

One campaigner said: "The ignorance of Irish road users is beyond comprehension as the penny is simply not dropping."

(PR/JM)