An internal Garda committee has said it was concerned about the management of drugs and cash seized from members of the public by the force.

The Garda Internal Audit Committee, which is headed by a former senior civil servant, said "urgent" steps were needed to address the lack of safeguards, according to a new report.

The committee said there were unresolved issues relating to the control, management and recording of drugs exhibits and property including cash.

The main role of the committee, which is made up of private sector experts and senior Gardaí, is to examine the work done by the Garda's Internal Audit Section (GIAS).

The committee said "close attention" was needed in the area of the management of property and evidence in the possession of An Garda Síochána", adding that GIAS, "could provide only limited assurance in this regard and the Committee recommends that practical solutions to address this issue be implemented as a matter of urgency".

The report says that while a working group had been set up to deal with the issue, it was "critical" that Gardaí provide adequate additional storage facilities in line with best practice, and that any such systems should be integrated to the Garda Pulse IT system.

However, the audit committee said that "given the current public funding environment, it will take time to completely resolve these issues". The report was finalised in March of this year, and has since been uploaded without any publicity to the Garda website.

The audit committee also raised concerns over the tracking of warrants, after a study which the GIAS carried out into controls in the area of warrant execution "differed" from the results of a self-assessment that local Garda management had carried out.

The committee also said that as a result of staff vacancies, that GIAS had "limited capacity to audit across the Garda organisation within a reasonable timeframe".

It said a review of the GIAS staffing showed that four vacancies out of a staffing compliment of ten existed across the professional accountant grades and Garda sergeant and executive officer grades.

A spokesman for An Garda Síochána said that the issues of storing evidence and warrants are "long-standing issues".

"Following an assessment of the Garda's Property and Exhibit Management System (PEMS) an improved system and additional physical Property and Exhibit Management stores at locations throughout the country are to be introduced as part of the organisation's transformation programme to address issues raised by the Audit Committee.

“An Garda Síochána is determined to deal with the long standing issues surrounding the handling and execution of all warrants.

"An internal working group has been examining the administrative procedures relating to all warrants such as the tracking of warrants and the timely execution of warrants. The aim is to develop a more efficient warrants system resulting in higher execution rates," the spokesman added.

In addition, An Garda Síochána is a member of an inter-agency working group along with the Irish Prison Service, Courts Service, DPP, CSSO, Attorney General's Office and Department of Justice that is looking to address outstanding issues with warrants across the justice system.

The spokesman also said that one extra person had been assigned to GIAS since the audit was completed.