Nearly 22,500 people received penalty points for holding a mobile phone while driving last year.
According to freedom of information figures, it's an increase of 8 per cent on 2020.
Over 1,000 penalty point notices were issued for the offence in five counties last year - Cork, Dublin, Kildare, Meath and Wexford.
Brian Farrell, from the Road Safety Authority, says his organisation has carried out further research.
"One in four admit to actually checking their mobile phone notifications while driving.
"One in five are saying that they're checking their phones for social media, and about 12% say they're checking it for their emails or sending back texts.
"It's definitely something that people are doing out there while driving."
