A significant number of Garda stations around the country are in a state of total disrepair and need to be urgently replaced, the Garda Representative Association has claimed.
The association is highlighting the poor condition of stations as one of many issues that need to be addressed before Minister for Justice Michael McDowell introduces the proposed Garda reserve force.
Ahead of its three-day annual conference which opens in Galway tonight, the GRA has compiled a list of the 10 "worst"Garda stations. However, it said the stock of accommodation is so poor that its list could have run to the 100 worst stations.
The chairman of the GRA's subcommittee on accommodation, Pat O'Sullivan, said the 10 stations featured had been selected because they had been on the waiting list the longest and all needed to be rebuilt.
"There is no other branch of the public service that would work in the conditions that our members are required to," Mr O'Sullivan said.
"Each one of those has been on the waiting list and have been continually rebutted by both the Office of Public Works and the Department of Justice."
Mr O'Sullivan said some of the stations featured had been condemned and should be closed. Others suffered from leaks, damp and faulty wiring.
Many stations were old and were originally designed to house a much smaller number of gardaí than they were now accommodating, he said.
As well as an improvement in Garda stations, the GRA also wants more full-time members to be recruited before the reserve force is introduced.
It is also seeking a modernisation of the Garda fleet of vehicles and the provision of stab-proof vests and pepper spray for its members.
Mr McDowell has already said the current approach to Garda station refurbishment is "simply not delivering".
