An Garda Síochána has confirmed it has updated conditions for its entry-level fitness test as part of an initiative to encourage more people to join the force.
The Physical Competency Test must be passed by all garda trainee applicants as part of the applications process.
A review of the PCT was launched last summer and a new version comes into effect immediately.
In a statement, An Garda Síochána said the new test will provide members with "a reassurance that prospective garda trainee candidates possess the acceptable level of pre-employment physical fitness".
The statement said the new PCT "continues to be reflective of the physical demands experienced by a garda" and is "robust enough to discriminate between individuals who can/cannot meet the physical demands of the job".
The updated test now has two components - a 20 metre multi-stage fitness test, also known as a beep test, immediately followed by an obstacle course.
Both parts must be completed in eight minutes and four seconds, or less, regardless of age and gender.
The obstacle course starts with a sprint and is followed by weaving through cones. Candidates must then walk along a balance beam, lift a car wheel and carry it three metres, go underneath a barrier and jump over a metre wide mat.
They must then push and pull a sled for six metres each way, run up and down a flight of stairs, climb over a gate and sprint ten metres.
If a candidate fails to complete any part of the course, they will have to repeat that component while their time is still being recorded.
The move is part of an initiative to encourage more people to consider joining the force.
The Government has said it will increase garda numbers in the coming years, with the current number remaining at around 14,000.
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Former Garda Detective Inspector Pat Marry said he is in favour of relaxing the fitness test, adding that it could encourage older people to consider joining the force.
"I'm thinking about people who are, let's say, 50 years of age or under. Some of them may be married, they'll have children, they'll have life experience," he said.
"Their life experience will pay into some of the jobs they may be doing... they may be able to bring something far greater than the ordinary policeman who is maybe 19 or 20 years of age and hasn't worked in the wider world before joining."
Speaking to RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne, Det Insp Marry said reducing the degree of requirement is a "positive thing".
"They're going to get a lot of people who are going to bring a lot of pluses with them," he added.
A professor of health and human performance disagreed and said he did not think relaxing the rules was a good idea.
Speaking on the same programme, Dr Niall Moyna described the move as a "retrograde step".
"I think there's a minimum standard that's required to function as a garda," he said.
"Just think about a garda. The physicality involved in being a garda, that they work ten-hour shifts over four days or 12-hour shifts. They can be called upon at any time.
"If you start this downward momentum, where are we going to be in ten years time?"
Dr Moyna said more could be done to upkeep fitness levels of gardaí throughout their careers.
"I would have a much bigger issue with the maintenance of fitness rather than the than the entry fitness. That's an issue that really needs to be addressed ... I think there needs to be a cultural shift in the thinking," he said.
"They do this test once, they're never tested again for the rest of their career ... we spend €2 billion a year on the gardaí. I'm sure we can put a little bit aside to actually assess this to a much greater depth.
