Gardaí expect to spend €600,000 over the next four years on drug testing for members amid warnings of the risk of corruption and over-reliance on garda intelligence to monitor drug use within the force.
An internal application for funding said the estimated cost of testing around 1,900 candidates, trainees, and gardaí would be €150,000 to conduct 150 separate testing operations.
The application said gardaí had up to now been unable to monitor drug use within the force and instead had to rely on gathering intelligence to identify use and supply of narcotics by officers.