It also said the agency was chronically understaffed and lacked both expertise and high-tech laboratories to fulfill its growing responsibilities.

IRELAND'S environment suffers because the local authority planning service is " chronically understaffed", according to a report published by the Irish Planning Institute.

Which was why Sphinx was now finding itself inundated by such a plethora of scientists-busybodiesmaking all sorts of trouble for his chronically understaffed rangers.

They have become an essential part of a low-paid workforce in a sector that is chronically understaffed, with about 120,000 vacancies.