Proposals to reform the Garda Síochána, which will include greater centralisation and shorter station opening hours, have caused concern amongst senior officers.
The confidential Review of Garda Síochána Structures and Organisation, drafted by a high-level group headed by former top civil servant Mr Kevin Bonner, was sent to the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, early this year.
Slimmer management, the withdrawal of detective units from smaller stations, and the centralisation of back-office functions should happen over "the next four to five years", it says.
However, the Association of Garda Chief Superintendents - the comments of which are also noted in the report - has complained that the recommendations are not based on policing experience.
"There has been no policing model shown on which the recommendations are based. Insufficient detail has been given. The recommended changes should have been costed in detail," the report quotes the chief superintendents as saying.
Furthermore, the chief superintendents have complained that their responsibilities will be "diminished by the enhanced role" to be given to the Regional Assistant Commissioner.
The association also expressed reservations about the report's implications for the handling of court cases.
Though recognising the "necessity for ongoing modernisation and change", the body is worried about the implications for their officer rank.
Meanwhile, the report - which has been seen by the Minister, senior Justice officials and senior Garda officers - also criticises the Garda's community policing performance.
This it describes as not "well defined, is poorly organised, suffers from a diversion of resources, and lacks performance management and planning. Inconsistency and lack of priority are key issues to be addressed."
Urging senior officers to refocus their attentions, it goes on: "Community/rural policing is to some extent dependent on the personal commitment of local management to this form of policing and, in essence, how supportive they are of it.
"The level of diversion of resources to other duties would appear to vary significantly and the lack of available records to quantify this is in itself an issue of concern.
"The work and outcome of the work undertaken by community/rural gardaí is inappropriately measured, if at all.
Urging the Government to accept its recommendations, the expert group says:
"Some recommendations in the report will present challenges for staff associations, but all are designed to ensure that the Garda organisation has the appropriate management structure and systems in place to equip it for the future."
