Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for coming in today and sharing their personal stories and expertise on this very difficult situation that has been created by the State. We had much discussion about the fact new legislation is not needed, but I am conscious there are State bodies that could have acted and did not. I am concerned that if we do not - I will steal Dr. McCullagh's words - insist that appropriate actions are inherent in the legislation, they will not happen. There is an element of trust but there is no trust in the State and how it has responded so far. We cannot go on trust alone; it is an element of trust but verify. Much of the best practice we need has to be in the legislation. Otherwise, I would be concerned it would not happen. Even if it can happen without being in the legislation, there is a risk that if it is not in the legislation, it will not happen.

I am also concerned about the challenges we face in terms of the technical aspects. Dr. McCullagh talked about individualisation. Will she talk to us about some of the challenges she anticipates and how we can address them? Is it possible to address very technical stuff in the Bill without going too far? As Senator Seery Kearney said, if we are too restrictive and technology changes, we will not be able to use the legislation. There is a balance to be struck there.

With reference to DNA evidence, we are talking about taking samples from the temporal bone. What is possible if a temporal bone is not recovered? We are setting up a dichotomy between different kinds of DNA analysis, with STR on the one hand and HTS and SNP on the other. Is it possible to do both kinds of analysis? Are there advantages or disadvantages to them?