1,800 more Gardaí are to be deployed to the front-line by 2021, as part of radical changes to the way the force operates.
800 additional members are being recruited, while 1,000 existing Gardaí are to be reassigned to frontline duties.
The number of Garda divisions is being reduced from 28 to 19, while the number of regions will go from 6 to 4, in what the force is promising will lead to more localised, meaningful services in communities.
Commissioner Drew Harris is rejecting claims by the Association of Garda Superintendents that the reforms could leave rural areas without enough Gardaí:
