Gardaí have demanded an independent ombudsman to deal with complaints of bullying and sexual harassment within the force.

The present system of garda management mediating between parties who are in dispute over alleged bullying, harassment or sexual harassment is a "compete failure", officers told the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) annual conference last week.

"There is an issue with bullying, harassment and sexual harassment. I know victims who have experienced problems with management when they have gone to their superiors to complain," Sergeant Regina McArdle, who is based in Monaghan, told the conference.

"There have been issues with unsympathetic senior investigators. We need an independent body. Bullying is unacceptable."

A motion was passed at the conference on Wednesday directing the Garda National Executive to seek from the Department of Justice the establishment of an independent ombudsman's office to probe and arbitrate on all complaints of bullying and harassment within An Garda Siochána. The motion was put forward by officers from Dublin east metropolitan region.

The defence forces have established an independent ombudsman to deal with these types of complaints and garda officers favoured a similar model.

"It is a very serious issue. At the moment, it's a complete failure management attempting to get people into mediation. Both sides are dissatisfied with it. The defence forces' model is independent and it has upheld 10 complaints since it was established," Sergeant Don Harvey told those assembled at the conference.

A garda 'whistleblower' system to root out malpractice and corruption within the gardaí became operational in March last year and Brian McCarthy, a former secretary general to President Mary McAleese, was appointed to receive confidential reports from gardaí about alleged misconduct.

The government introduced the whistleblowers' charter for gardaí after the Morris tribunal recommended that a system be set up to make it possible for an officer to pass on allegations of corruption in confidence to a trusted person.

Technically, this office could deal with complaints about bullying and harassment but officers maintain an independent ombudsman's office would be better placed to deal with such issues.