Any attempt to make tasers available to rank and file Gardaí would change the nature of policing in Ireland.

That's according to Liam Herrick, Executive Director of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL).

He was speaking amid continued calls for frontline Gardaí to be able to use tasers in response to the increasing number of assaults on their members.

There were 285 incidents of Garda injuries last year - up from 243 cases the year before.

Mr Herrick told Lunchtime Live there has to be a difference between general and specific uses.

"I think the key question here is the difference between specialised and specific use of a less lethal weapon - such as tasers - on one hand, and on the other the general allocation of tasers as kit for rank and file Guards doing community policing," he said.

"It seems that the GRA is in favour of the latter, and I think that they're two quite different things".

'De-escalation from firearms'

Mr Herrick said Ireland is not like other countries.

"One of the key motivations for the introduction of weapons like tasers in the United States, Britain and elsewhere has been as a de-escalation from the use of firearms," he said.

"In an Irish context, we're coming from a very different starting point.

"There's very limited use of firearms by rank and file police here; the approach that we've taken is to have specialised units - the Armed Support Unit - that have use of firearms.

"In that context... tasers are definitely useful; but if we're talking about the ordinary, community policing function of the Guards, in an Irish context, it would be a significant escalation of the use of force.

"I think that's something we should be concerned about".

'Very significant issue'

Mr Herrick said giving Gardaí weapons to make situations safer is 'very simplistic.'

"The issue of Garda safety is a very significant issue, it's a health and safety at work issue," he said.

"It's an inherently dangerous job of course, but we should do everything we can to make sure it's as safe as it possibly can [be].

"But I think the idea of reducing the issue of Garda safety to giving them more weapons is very simplistic.

Put to him that Gardaí may not realise how dangerous a situation is in advance, he said: "Is the answer to that that we equip people with dangerous weapons in case they might perhaps need them in the extreme circumstance?

"If we're doing that, I think we are changing the nature of policing here," he added.

Listen back below: