Surging levels of street violence demand the sort of inventive and innovative policy which the Government appears incapable of offering, Fine Gael has said.
Citing a pilot scheme in Britain under which police can issue on-the-spot fines for "anti-social" behaviour, the party's justice, equality and law reform spokesman, Mr John Deasey, called on the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, to explore unorthodox methods of combating a sharp increase in public order offences.
With assaults reported to gardaí climbing by 93 percent to 3,841 last year, a radical departure from current Government strategy was required, Mr Deasy said.
The Garda Commissioner should be allowed to appoint his own administrative staff, he added.
Mr Deasy said: "Street violence and thuggish anti-social behaviour are massive issues in Ireland, and any idea that would help the Garda tackle this crisis should be looked at."
In parts of England, police can issue fines for such offences as being drunk and disorderly, drinking in a restricted area, buying alcohol for children, throwing stones at trains, wasting police time or making hoax emergency calls.
Mr Deasy said: "Obvious strengths of this type of initiative are that it allows officers to tackle what might be called 'low-level' crime more swiftly.
"It would also reduce the amount of time gardaí spend on paperwork and in the courts where they often wait for hours to give evidence in a single case."
Rejecting Fine Gael's claims, a spokesman for the Minister said the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Bill 2002 contains a series of innovative provisions to clamp down on street violence.
The Bill will empower the District Court to ban a person involved in a fracas outside a pub from returning there for a year. Gardaí will be able to seek a closure order against a pub which is regularly the scene of violent disorder.
The spokesman said: "As the Minister with responsibility for criminal and licensing law, Mr McDowell has major concerns about the implications of a drink culture for public order and civil society"
But Mr Deasy insisted more needs to be done.
He said: "We need extra gardaí on the streets, where they are too often outnumbered. They don't have the personnel available to deal with the type and level of street crime that now exists.
"At weekends in urban areas street violence is commonplace, with two or three gardaí all too often left outnumbered 10-to-one in violent situations.
"Part of how we can get extra gardaí on the streets is to speed up recruitment into the force, but it is also vital that we look at how existing personnel can be more effectively deployed.
"Too much time is spent buried in paperwork in Garda stations and not enough out on the streets interfacing with the community."
Commissioner Byrne requires additional powers to hire civilians, Mr Deasy added.