Staffing problems are hitting garda armed support units, the national fraud unit, divisional squads tasked with investigating sexual and domestic crimes, and regional cyber crime units.

The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) has been unable to bring a single protected disclosure investigation to a satisfactory conclusion because of chronic understaffing, according to its chair, Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring.

Emergency Department Nurses are to go ahead with strike action next week after they voted to reject a package to tackle overcrowding and staffing issues.

The biggest stumbling block to opening 300 extra hospital beds before the end of the year to ease chronic overcrowding will be the ongoing staffing crisis, nurses have warned.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation has said that staffing levels need to be brought back to pre-cutback levels.