The Government will have powers to set up a Garda reserve force under the reform package published yesterday by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr McDowell, writes Mark Hennessy, Political Correspondent.
However, the Minister indicated that the creation of such a force, copying the special constabulary model found in the United Kingdom, would not happen quickly.
Once set up, the force would have "the same powers and duties" as full members of the Garda Síochána, though no decisions about its budget have yet been made by the Cabinet.
"I should make it clear that the last thing I want to do is create some form of 'yellow pack' policing body and I want to emphasise that the creation of a Garda reserve will never be a substitute for adequate resources," the Minister declared.
However, he believed that many members of the public "would be willing to give of their time and to give something back to the community".
"I also believe that such a development would have beneficial effects for the establishment of closer and deeper connections between the gardaí themselves and the communities they serve," Mr McDowell said.
But he went on: "I am emphasising that this is purely an enabling provision.
"If I am putting down the framework for policing services in Ireland for the next half century, "I think it would be remiss of me not to provide some basis for a statutory creation of a Garda reserve should the Government and the parliament decide that that is a sensible thing to do," he said.
The cost of such a force would depend greatly on its scope.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland has full-time reservists, while other UK police forces use only voluntary officers.
"They actually get paid nothing, absolutely nothing, other than their out-of-pocket expenses, to perform their duties.
Those are issues on which public consultation and discussion are required," said the Minister.
Questioned again about the new force's budget, he said: "That is a thing at this stage on which it is impossible to have a fixed-view.
"I don't know what the interest will be. I am sure the interest will vary in accordance with what kind of reserve force it is," Mr McDowell said.
Meanwhile, security staff at government-owed properties, such as Leinster House, museums and elsewhere will be given limited powers of arrest.
"A key objective of the proposals is to free up members of the Garda Síochána to do what the public wants them to do, which is to tackle crime," said Mr McDowell.
The recently retired Garda Commissioner, Mr Pat Byrne, frequently voiced his desire to remove gardaí from security duties outside Leinster House and other State buildings.
Because of the need to cover shifts, holidays and sickness period, each garda post on such duties consumed 5.2 officers, Commissioner Byrne wrote last year.
"I just want to allay suspicions in relation to that. What I have in mind is that the security staff at national institutions, such as the National Gallery, could in certain circumstances be given some limited powers which are now given to gardaí to stop people, to detain them, to demand their name and address, not to be obstructed by them, so that it would not be necessary to deploy members of the Garda Síochána on static security duties."
Security staff awarded extra powers will have to clear strict vetting procedures to ensure they are "fit and proper persons".
"Again, I want to stress that this is purely an enabling provision because obviously there are a lot of people who I would want to consult before I would put that into effect," he said.