Rank and file Gardaí want new legislation to allow for the detention of drunk people until they've sobered up.

The issue will be debated at the Garda Representative Association annual conference in Killarney in Co Kerry today.

"We don't have the capacity to detain them. We then end up with people being released, possibly a danger to traffic or themselves," said Garda Michael Corcoran, from Angelsea Street Station in Cork City, who is proposing the motion.

"It’s a call that you have to make, and it's really for that person's safety. We have a duty of care, but at the same time we could find ourselves in trouble because of the detention. And that's a problem for our members."

Delegates said they want to be able to detain people arrested under the Public Order Act for their own safety.