Information Commissioner Mr Kevin Murphy has called for the gardaí to be made subject to the Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation.
Speaking at the publication of his annual report for 2002, Mr Murphy said while "most public bodies of significance have by now become subject to FOI - the only substantial omission is that of An Garda Síochána".
The move would allow information held by the gardaí to be accessed by the public.
Mr Murphy, who will retire from his position in June, paid tribute to the success of his office over the last five years.
"Starting in a relatively modest way in April 1998, with about 65 public bodies covered by the FOI Act and about 3,700 requests made in the first nine months of operation, FOI now extends to cover almost 400 public bodies and generated almost 17,200 requests during 2002," he said.
Mr Murphy said the FOI was one of the major mechanisms by which to ensure "transparency and accountability" in public life.
During 2002, some 17,196 requests were made to public bodies under the FOI Act, an 11 per cent increase on 2001.
"In my view, this increased level of usage is accounted for both by the greater number of public bodies coming within the remit of the Act and by the increasing awareness of members of the public of their rights under the Act," Mr Murphy said.
The Government departments with the highest number of requests were education and health with 1,938 and 997 respectively. The high level of requests to these departments appears to relate to personal records sought by former residents of industrial schools and other institutions.
The Green Party today backed the call, with the party's justice spokesman, Mr Ciarán Cuffe TD, arguing that recent incidents show there are deep public concerns regarding certain Garda actions.
"We believe that the general public should have the right to access more information held by the Gardaí," he said. "This could help people find out more about the progress of criminal investigations, or to determine the reasons for inappropriate Garda responses to events such as the 'Reclaim the Streets' protest a year ago."
