Gardaí have a "good picture" of the number and structure of the different criminal gangs operating in the country, Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly has said.
The commissioner said gardaí have carried out an analysis and know how these criminal organisations work.
Mr Kelly also said an "organised crime threat assessment" of all of these groups has been completed.
The commissioner was speaking at the Garda Training College in Templemore, Co Tipperary, as 193 people were sworn in as new members of of An Garda Síochána.
He was asked about the events involving two feuding gangs in Ballymun in Dublin this week, as well as what the Irish Prison Service has said is the rising number of gang members it is seeing in the system.
Mr Kelly said: "One of the things that we have done is we have examined and we have analysed all the different groups.
"We have done what we call an organised crime threat assessment. We work with colleagues in Europol as well around some of the analysis.
"But we certainly have a really good picture around the numbers, the structures, how they [the gangs] operate."
The commissioner said he was "reluctant" to put a number on how many gangs and criminal organisations were operating here.
However, he said he certainly would not say that this number of gangs is significantly increasing.
He said: "Whenever there is discussion around numbers, it is still really important to remember Ireland is a really safe country.
"So last year, there was not one homicide by firearm and that's the first time since the 1960s and we here in Ireland are the envy of many countries in Europe that we have that position."
Almost 200 new gardaí pass out of Templemore
The almost 200 gardaí attested in Templemore this morning brings the total number in the force to 14,661 sworn members.
Of the new 193 probationer gardaí, 134 are male and 59 are female.
Five of the gardaí were born outside of the State - in England, Italy, Poland and Spain.
The gardaí will now be allocated as follows: 141 for the Dublin region, 27 for the eastern region, 14 for the southern region and 11 for the north western region.
Commissioner Kelly said 57 of the gardaí would be going to Dublin Metropolitan Region North garda division, in which Ballymun is located.
He said: "We are putting significant additional resources into that area. And I think in relation to the incident that happened with the child, obviously, I mean, it could have had absolutely tragic outcomes, and thank goodness it didn't.
"But on that very same morning, we conducted an operation with the divisional drugs unit out in Ballymun and we recovered a firearm out there separate to this.
"So I think that just indicates that the whole time we are working very hard around firearms," Commissioner Kelly added.
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