A survey of gardaí in Dublin and Limerick has found that eight out of ten feel unsafe at work because of the lack of other gardaí in the stations.
The survey of 400 gardaí commissioned by the Garda Representative Association also found that over 60% said they had to work alone on the streets during the day at least once a week and two thirds felt they had little back up while working alone.
Half said they were alone in confrontational incidents every day while most wanted the size of the force to be increased by at least 40%.
Of those surveyed, 84% said they did not feel safe at work because of a lack of other gardaí in the stations. 79% said they are frequently put at risk due to insufficient staffing levels while 70% said they felt they had inadequate protection from prisoners.
66% felt there was a lack of back up facilities or resources for them when they worked alone.
The Garda Representative Association says the findings are an indictment of serious neglect and under-resourcing by Government and garda management.
General Secretary PJ Stone says it epitomises serious difficulties in key areas of policing and sets out a broad vista of bad planning and accommodation problems of enormous consequence that must be tackled immediately.
Mr Stone said: 'This survey does highlight serious concerns among gardaí for their own health and safety but it will not do much for public confidence in the force. If gardaí with the power of arrest and the backing of the law feel unsafe in garda stations and out on the streets then how are the rest of us supposed to feel?'
