Changes to garda sick leave has resulted in a 30% drop in sick days — but staff associations have said this is because members are coming into work sick or injured.

The death of man in his 40s — whose body was found in Tralee, Co Kerry, yesterday — is not being treated as suspicious.

Middle-ranking gardaí have warned Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald that while the Garda system may survive with “sticking plasters”, the men and women of the force may not.

Garda Commissioner Noirin O’Sullivan has said that investigations are under way into the harassment of gardaí on social media after middle-ranking officers said that colleagues were being targeted by some anti-water charge protestors.

Middle-ranking gardaí have urged Garda chief Nóirín O’Sullivan to speak out about the staff shortage in the force before a garda is “seriously injured or worse”.

Senior gardaí have welcomed new measures to ensure the penalty points system is protected from abuse.

Garda numbers are set to drop as low as 12,600, despite the emergence of 300 trainee garda recruits during the year, police representatives have warned.

A Garda representative body praised a new "back-to-basics" community policing system — but warned staff and resources were not there to implement proposals to extend it.

A pilot policing scheme in North County Dublin is aiming to dramatically change the way Gardai operate in the community.

Garda numbers will have fallen to as low as 12,700 — some 300 below a minimum threshold set by Garda HQ — by the time 100 new recruits are on the streets next March, a staff association has warned.

Former Garda commissioner Martin Callinan has rejected dramatic claims made in the Dáil that he asked Garda staff associations to express no confidence in the Garda Ombudsman.

Concerns have been raised about the quality of training at Templemore during the Celtic Tiger years, says Cormac O’Keeffe.

Gardaí face the risk of a raft of civil actions as members are not properly trained to use batons and pepper sprays.

Middle-ranking gardaí have told Justice Minister Alan Shatter that morale “was on the floor” and their work was being “undermined” because of the controversies hitting the force.

Gardaí fear that training for the next batch of Garda recruits — the first in five years — will be done “on the cheap”.

The President of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors has blamed a lack of recognition from senior figures in the force is undermining garda confidence.

The association which represents the country’s rank-and-file gardaí has warned the Government that if it carries out its threat to cut its members’ wages it will retaliate by pursuing breaches of the EU working time directive in the courts.

The Justice Minister has been greeted with a silent protest at the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors annual conference in Sligo.

Dealing with child abuse cases, suicides and fatal road traffic accidents are the most stressful incidents for gardaí to deal with, according to a survey.

IT could be 2020 before there are new garda recruits, which will make it “impossible” for gardaí to carry out their functions, according to middle-ranking officers.