There are 575 members of the Gardaí currently on sick leave.

That is almost one in 20 members of the force.

Garda Chief Administration Officer Joseph Nugent admits it does has an impact on doing their work.

He said: "The number of sworn members availing on sick leave on the 5th December was 575, the number of members on restricted hours on the 30th June was 474.

"Clearly that does have an impact on the number of individuals available for operation policing roles."