Bill marks 'step up' in use of DNA to fight crime - Ahern

LEGISLATION that marks a “major step up” in the use of DNA technology to fight crime, has been introduced in the Dáil.

Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern said that the Bill, which provides for a national database system, would also update laws on the taking of samples from suspects for evidence in criminal cases.

The Criminal Justice (Forensic Evidence and DNA Database System) Bill aims to “upgrade our criminal intelligence capacity”.

Mr Ahern said that it marked a “major step-up in the use of DNA technology by the Garda in the fight against crime, but does so in a balanced and carefully constructed manner that ensures that individual freedoms are not sacrificed in the pursuit of a public good”.

The database will be established and operated by Forensic Science Ireland, the new name for the Forensic Science Laboratory.

Mr Ahern said that it would be called by the initials of its name in Irish, Eolaíocht Fhóiréinseach Éireann (EFE).

The legislation was intended for introduction five years ago, but had been delayed by international and European court cases dealing with breaches of human rights because of the retention of DNA samples beyond certain time limits.

The Bill will allow for the taking of body or DNA samples from suspects wanted or those convicted in connection with serious offences carrying sentences of five years or more.

Mr Ahern said “this high threshold ensures that suspects arrested in connection with, for example, minor public order offences will not be subject to these sampling powers”.

The samples will be used to generate DNA profiles on those suspects or convicted criminals and entered in the “investigation division” of the database, the Minister added.

The legislation also allows for the taking of samples from individuals “for elimination purposes” and to allow their DNA profile to be entered on a database, as well as using samples from persons or things to generate a DNA profile for missing persons.

That would be for an “identification division” of the database.

“Intimate samples require the consent of the suspect. They include blood, urine, swabs from the genital regions and dental impressions and, as can be readily appreciated, they cannot be taken without the co-operation of the suspect.

“However, a refusal to consent must not be without consequence,” the Minister stressed.

Michael D’Arcy (FG, Wexford) said his party broadly supported the Bill but that “our greatest concern is with the use of reasonable force to take samples from people aged between 12 and 18.

“While the penalties are reasonable and necessary, severe penalties should be applied to those who use information gained from the DNA database incorrectly,” he added.

Labour justice spokesman Pat Rabbitte described the legislation as “meaningful innovation that will permit gardaí to take full advantage of DNA technology in the detection of crime”.

However he noted the concerns of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) that the Bill did not incorporate sufficient safeguards in relation to the sampling of volunteers in the investigation of a particular offence.