Community wardens could be patrolling the streets of five pilot regions this summer, under a new scheme devised by the Department of the Environment.
As well as carrying out the duties of traffic and litter wardens, the new wardens will assist tourists, look out for the elderly, check dog licences and generally be the "eyes and ears" of the local authority.
They will wear distinctive uniforms and should be a visible point of contact for residents and visitors, according to the Department. The scheme will be piloted over a one-year period in Cos Wexford and Leitrim, Galway city and county and Naas, Co Kildare. If successful, it will then be extended to the rest of the State.
A spokesman for the Department of the Environment said it would relieve the workload of gardai, allowing them to concentrate on crime control.
Task forces in Leitrim and Galway city and county have already submitted their plans on implementing the scheme to the Department of the Environment, and the other two areas are expected to do so shortly. Trade union members and gardai are represented on the task forces.
The spokesman said that existing traffic and litter wardens would be encouraged to take on this new role. They would receive an additional allowance of about £1,500 a year to do so. However, if existing wardens were not interested, they would not be forced into it, he said. Previously, there was no connection between the work of litter and traffic wardens, so if traffic wardens saw someone tossing litter on the street, it was not their duty to respond.
The spokesman said that some elements of the scheme would be more important in particular areas. "For example, assisting tourists would be a large part of the work in Galway city while developing contact with the elderly would be more relevant in Leitrim because of its large elderly population."
