Two gardai assigned to monitor the movements of dissident republicans in the border region are under investigation for allegedly falsifying surveillance reports to conceal the fact they were skipping off work.

Special Branch has launched an internal inquiry into the matter which recently came to light after the gardai emailed a report to account for their movements and provide information on suspects, properties and vehicles they had surveilled.

The veracity of the official report was called into question when a more senior garda noticed the time stamp on the email showed it had been sent when the officers said they were out on patrol. The officers were unable to explain the discrepancy. It is not known if the two gardai have been sanctioned or formally