Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald has told the Dáil the number of allegations of garda misconduct being examined by a panel set up by the Government has increased to 282.
The independent review mechanism was established after the Guerin Report to look at 220 allegations of garda misconduct or complaints not properly investigated.
The panel consists of two senior and five junior counsel.
Minister Fitzgerald said today the number of cases was significant and was higher than originally estimated.
However, she added: "It was important to refer to the panel all of the allegations on hand with very minimal filtering to ensure that every appropriate case got the benefit of an independent review."
Ms Fitzgerald said the panel would conduct an examination of the papers in each allegation and did not involve interviews or interactions with complainants.
She said the panel could recommend further action in any particular case.
The minister also said it was important to be realistic and in some cases there may be no further action.
Fianna Fáil's Niall Collins said the terms of reference of the review should be changed so that complainants have a chance to meet the counsel reviewing their case.
Mr Collins said he had referred some cases himself and paperwork was scant, but people had a story to tell.
However, the minister said this would involve a very wide remit for the counsel involved.
She said in many cases, there was a huge amount of correspondence and there was a wide variety of circumstances.
Ms Fitzgerald told TDs the role of the panel was to make recommendations in each case. She said it had a wide variety of options open to it.
Mr Collins asked if the terms of reference could be amended because who knows what might be found.
Minister Fitzgerald said one of the options open to the panel, depending on the review of the case, could be to refer matters back to gardaí for criminal investigation.
She also said it could be recommended that there be a statutory inquiry and that was linked to her follow-up of the Guerin Report.
The minister said she wanted to make sure the findings were reviewed and some could be referred to a commission.
The Guerin Report was published in May after an examination by barrister Sean Guerin.
It was critical of how allegations made by garda whistleblower Sergeant Maurice McCabe were handled by gardaí, the Department of Justice and former minister Alan Shatter.
