THE number of operational gardai has fallen by more than 1,000 in the past 10 years, while crime has risen to record levels.
The annual conference of the Garda Representative Association (GRA) heard that retirement had outstripped recruitment in the past decade.
The conference was told that 10 years ago there were 9,400 officers of garda rank - the rank which provides policing "on the beat" - but there were now 8,300.
It was also stated that the overall strength of the force was 800 below the Government's approved strength of 11,400.
The GRA president, Mr John Healy, said there had been "continual denuding" of some Garda districts to provide personnel for operations or special events because of these shortages.
"It would appear that the force is some 800 members under the Government's approved strength of 11,400.
"In reality the situation is far worse," he said. "This is not something that has happened overnight." There had been a consistent fall in Garda numbers, at a time when a garda's workload and the crime rate had been increasing.
Mr Healy said that overtime had been reduced and this also equated to a reduction in manpower levels. Recruitment was not keeping pace with retirements and the public was aware of the "scarcity of garda numbers".
Earlier, the Garda Commissioner, Mr Patrick Culligan, pointed out that crime levels had risen by 16 per cent since 1990. However, he said detection rates had risen by 37 per cent in the same period.
The Commissioner said the Force now used a "human resource allocation model", which ensured that available personnel were allocated across the 107 Garda districts "in proportion to each district's share of the overall policing workload.
"For the first time, a systematic study of indirect demands in districts was undertaken with the assistance of the Central Statistics Office. Information was obtained on a range of social factors, including populations by age groups, unemployment rates and types of housing.
"An evaluation model completed over a period of months in nine districts where significant in were predicted. The evaluation established that the findings of the model are, prima facie, a good indicator of the need for personnel in the pilot districts.
"The existence of an object personnel allocation model clearly defined criteria means that we are no longer dependent on intuition and ad hoc judgments.
"The equitable allocation of personnel is in the interests both the public, whom we serve, and of Garda personnel, by ensuring that the overall policing workload is fairly distributed," Mr Culligan said.