The first of the new "community wardens" will be on the streets of selected towns in less than a fortnight's time. The full-time force members, who will police infringements of local authority legislation, are in training at five locations around the State.
First into action will be the Leitrim and Wexford county council contingents who will start work on February 8th.
Recruits from the three other local authorities taking part in the three-year pilot scheme, Naas Town Council, Galway County Council and Galway City Council, will also start patrolling in the coming weeks.
The wardens have a Garda-style uniform and peaked cap, but the uniform is grey to avoid confusion. They are being issued with distinctive vehicles bearing the community warden logo.
Their job is to be both traffic and litter warden as well as to be on the alert for breaches of planning, pollution, noise level and other public nuisance regulations and a myriad of by-laws peculiar to their own jurisdiction.
In addition, they will be expected to have detailed knowledge of the workings of State and voluntary institutions in their area and to resolve issues arising between communities and the local authority.
"It's a very wide brief," said Leitrim County Council's acting director of community and enterprise, Mr Bartley Gavin, who has five wardens in the final stages of training.
"We've gone through most of the formal training on legislation and procedures and so on and we're going through things like local facilities and services now.
"They'll be expected to be able to turn their hand to a wide range of queries and issues and to see them through to resolution. They're not just for referral. We're giving them power to act."
Four of the Leitrim wardens will have a district each, comprising urban and rural communities, and the fifth will be a "floater".
Among the recruits are former Leitrim county councillor Mr Charlie Cullen; a former Dublin city traffic warden and the existing local authority litter warden.
Eight of Wexford County Council's existing litter and traffic wardens have also taken up the new posts and a further 11 external appointments are being made.
"We have a good variety of people from different backgrounds who all have in common a strong interest in the community," said Ms Liz Stanley, the senior staff officer in charge.