A report has revealed that some gardaí are still driving garda vehicles without having completed a specialist driving course.
The Garda Síochána Inspectorate warned about the dangers of this practice in a report four years ago and called for the situation to be remedied.
The Garda Commissioner has now approved a competency-based driver training programme, which will see over 1,000 gardaí trained per year.
Under current practice, gardaí who have not completed a standard driver training course can drive garda vehicles with permission from their chief superintendent.
In its report on roads policing four years ago, the Garda Inspectorate found around a fifth of the force, or 2,600 gardaí, were driving garda vehicles in this way, posing a serious safety issue for officers and the public.
The Inspectorate urged that the issue be addressed urgently and a target date of the fourth quarter of 2009 was set for the situation to be remedied.
Today's report says the new standard driver training course will equip officers for operational duties, including emergency response.
In addition, the report says new entrants to An Garda Síochána will receive driver training as part of their core training programme.
The report also says that the issue of whether all recruits to the Garda Síochána should be required to possess a valid driving licence prior to employment is still under consideration.
The report says it is being considered within the context of a separate Review of Training & Development in An Garda Síochána launched two years ago.
