The Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, is considering plans to set up a reserve Garda force, whose members would patrol on the beat around the country writes Conor Lally.
Mr McDowell also said yesterday he is considering charging fees for policing services, as pressure increases on public finances.
"I want to see to what extent the Garda Síochána could and should charge realistic fees for special police services, especially those given to companies and organisations," he told the Garda Representative Association's annual conference in Galway last night.
Mr McDowell said the new reserve force would be made up of around 1,200 members who would work on a voluntary basis.
"Obviously there would be some allowance for uniforms and some out-of-pocket expenses. But the system in the UK operates on a voluntary basis."
The force would engage almost exclusively in uniform duties and would have the same powers as full-time gardaí.
If any retired members of the force joined the reserves they could be deployed to some specialist duties. However, it is not envisaged that they would have a role in tackling serious crime.
Mr McDowell said he would consult with Garda representative associations before the reserve force was established.
He is confident it could be operating fully within 18 months of a decision on it being ratified by Cabinet.
Ireland was one of a very small number of common law countries which do not have such a force.
He insisted the reserve force would not compromise the Government's plans to increase the numbers in the full-time force.
"I am certainly not looking to it as a means of getting around my commitment to bring the strength of An Garda Síochána to 12,200 next year - that will be achieved by increasing active Garda numbers, not by recruiting reserves. Nor is it a substitute for the Government's commitment to raise the strength of the force further to 14,000."
He said the force would number 14,000 within the lifetime of the Government. It would be increased by around 300 to a total of 12,200 by the end of next year without the need to expand the Garda training college at Templemore.
Mr McDowell said there was "no more money" for expenditure on the force in the current year.
"That is the same with prisons, with health, across the board. It is a time to get value for money."
With this in mind he was anxious to examine every possibility of maximising and supplementing resources.
The Minister said he would favour a proposal, expected to be forwarded to Government soon, which will recommend the over-night closing of some 24 Garda stations.
"Choices have to be made here. Do people want the police in stations behind desks or do they want them out on patrol?"
He said the issue of the State providing legal aid for gardaí facing civil actions arising from their duties needs to be addressed.
Officials from the Department of Justice were already in discussions with the Attorney General's office on the matter.