Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly has said he is not satisfied with the way some gardaí deal with the public and victims of crime on first contact.
Mr Kelly said: "It's not where it should be and neither is the follow up."
He told the Police and Community Safety Authority that these members are "really hurting us" because their behaviour affects public trust and confidence, alongside preventing people coming forward.
He referred to two surveys which showed that almost half of victims of domestic violence were not happy with the service the gardaí provided them
He said he was concerned about these high numbers and was due to meet with the CEO of Women’s Aid.
Mr Kelly said "a piece of work" was under way to resolve the issue.
The commissioner also said the high visibility policing plan is to be expanded to include two more areas of Dublin before Christmas before being established in other parts of the country.
Acting Deputy Commissioner Paul Cleary, who devised the plan, said gardaí can measure its effectiveness.
He said it was devised by targeting high crime areas identified through garda, community and business feedback.
Gardaí, he added, are placed in those so-called "red hot spots".
He said management gets a report every Monday which shows what garda was assigned where and what they did on duty.
"We can see they’re not just standing around doing nothing," he said.
The commissioner said one of the key lessons in relation to what gardaí say was a successful operation is that "we should have done this a long time ago".
Mr Kelly said he had made it a priority for gardaí to tackle the lawlessness surrounding groups on motorbikes and e-scooters.
He said he was concerned about aspects of the legislation and that some of the things the gardaí recommended were not adapted.
"I intend to revisit these and current legislation," he said, adding that he would "think the public would share my concerns around the rules, around this legislation".
He also said that while gardaí had seized large numbers of motorbikes, e-bikes and e-scooters, the dangers of enforcement were very real because there had been a number of people killed.
Mr Kelly said it was very difficult for gardaí to intervene to try to stop these people.
The commissioner told the authority that there had been some "absolutely horrific" attacks on gardaí, including "assailants with swords and weapons" and "incidents where officers have had to retreat".
Commissioner Kelly said he was committed to providing gardaí with the equipment they needed to do their job and was planning a pilot programme on the introduction of tasers for frontline officers.
Mr Kelly said that it is a priority for him to increase resources and equipment around national security.
This, he said, would involve additional analysts, specialists and more officers assigned to the Special Detective Unit.
He said it is a geopolitically volatile time with wars in the Middle East and eastern Europe.
Ireland, he added, was not immune to threats from hostile states, and international and Islamic terrorism.
Kelly reviewing policing model over 'inefficiencies'
Commissioner Kelly said he is reviewing the garda operational policing model - the structure through which the gardaí police the country - because there are "inefficiencies" and it is "not working well" in parts.
He told the authority there were often disagreements in functional areas over who deals with what crime and there were problems in Roads Traffic Policing.
His comments are in marked contrast to those of his predecessor Drew Harris, who consistently insisted the model was working well in spite of claims to the contrary from gardaí at all ranks.
Commissioner Kelly said there needed to be consistency in the operation of the model.
He described the findings of the Crowe report, which found that some gardaí in roads policing were not doing their job and had no interest in doing it, as "shocking and disappointing".
He accepted the current system of governance and oversight in roads policing was not working, saying it is "not doing the job we want it to do".
He added an implementation group was looking at numbers, deployments and individual accountability in the department.
It was also looking at performance management in relation to the senior officers who are supposed to supervise gardaí not doing their job, as well as fleet distribution, policies and procedures.
The newly appointed Assistant Commissioner in charge of roads policing also told the authority that they were preparing a "structured time bound plan" to change the culture and work ethic in roads policing which would deliver "high standards, productivity and accountability".
