Seanad report: It was appalling that only a relatively small number of gardaí was available for ordinary police duties at any given time, Mr Jim Higgins (FG) said.
Contending that it was a fallacy to talk of a force of 12,000, he said that 4,000 were at desk duties while a further 2,000 were engaged in escorting prisoners and on court duties.
A huge number of gardaí were sick at any point in time.
When account was also taken of the fact that other members of the force were driving Ministers or undertaking other security duties, the actual number of gardaí on police duty was less than 500.
Mr Higgins was supporting a call by Mr Brian Hayes, the Fine Gael leader in the House, for an urgent debate on the growing problem of crime.
Mr Hayes said a regular happening was the kicking to death of people by individuals indulging in alcohol-fuelled violence. The Government's promise of 2,000 extra gardaí was nothing more than a pipe-dream. "We must take a stand to stop this spiralling rise in crime," declared Mr Hayes.
Proposing also that there be a short debate on Northern Ireland policy, Mr Hayes said everyone in the House was aware of the efforts by the British and Irish governments to bring the parties forward in their deliberations.
He added: "I find it cringing that our democratically-elected Government continues still to haggle over words with an illegal organisation that is responsible for murder and mayhem on our island over the past 40 years."
Proposing that special action be taken to tackle the driving-test backlog, Mr Higgins suggested that consideration be given to the introduction of an amnesty for drivers who had held provisional licences for at least three years and had been accident-free.