The Garda Representative Association (GRA) is calling for people who upload videos of cars driving the wrong way down a motorway to be prosecuted.
The policing body appeared before the Oireachtas Justice Committee on Tuesday, where it was outlined that intoxicated driving offences have risen by 10pc in the last year, while mobile phone use has increased by 19pc.
Senior gardaí also told the committee that 40 garda instructors are currently undergoing various stages of pursuit training with UK police, which will be rolled out at the Garda College from the end of November.
The issue of pursuit training and criminals driving against traffic has come to the fore again following last month’s M9 road crash in Kildare, in which five teenagers died after driving a car against traffic on a motorway and ploughing into an innocent family.
In its submission to the committee, the GRA said a clearer policy around spontaneous pursuits needs to be introduced, including grades of seriousness.
General Secretary Ronan Slevin also said there needs to be legislative change to raise the threshold for gardaí, while calling for harsher sentences and bans for those caught deliberately driving the wrong way up a road or street.
The GRA has also said it should be made an offence to upload such videos, and that there needs to be greater accountability for social media companies.
Assistant Commissioner Denis Ferry, in charge of Roads Policing, described recent high-profile collisions involving contra-flow driving on motorways in Ireland and the UK as “deeply concerning”.
He outlined how pursuit training was not the solution to this specific criminal behaviour and said one aspect should be engaging with social media companies to remove such material.
The senior garda added that at least 94pc of gardaí in control centres are trained in pursuit management, while training for operational gardaí will begin by the end of this year.
Mr Ferry said around 80pc of all pursuits are authorised, and that the deployment of stinger devices and the Air Support Unit were key in such operations.
The Assistant Commissioner said a draft document had been submitted to the Department of Justice in recent weeks, looking at raising the criminal threshold for gardaí involved in collisions in the course of their duties.
He added that nine gardaí are currently being prosecuted for driving offences while on duty, and that the draft policy acknowledges gardaí are trained to a higher standard and that there should be a higher threshold.
Chief Superintendent Brian Sugrue, who oversees the Garda Training College, said instructors are undergoing various phases of training with UK police. The first phase will be completed by the end of November, at which point a class of six gardaí could begin pursuit training, with a wider rollout next year.
The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) says there is an “overarching belief” among its members that they will be “thrown to the wolves” for conducting their duties in the absence of appropriate legal protections.
General Secretary Ronan Clogher said other issues included a lack of clarity on pursuit driving, no training currently in place to deal with such spontaneous incidents, and inadequate Garda resources.