Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 6:

In page 61, after line 34, to insert the following: “Code of practice

81.(1) The provost marshal shall, as soon as practicable after the commencement of this section and following consultation with the Director of FSI, prepare for submission to the Minister a draft code of practice for the purposes of providing practical guidance as to the procedures regarding the taking of samples by members of the Military Police from persons under this Act or causing such samples to be taken.

(2) A code of practice prepared under this section shall be submitted to the Minister for approval.

(3) The Minister may approve, or approve subject to modifications, a code of practice submitted to the Minister undersubsection (2)and, when a code of practice has been so approved, it shall apply and have effect in accordance with its terms.

(4) A code of practice approved under this section may be amended or revoked.

(5) Amendments to such a code of practice, other than amendments of a minor or technical nature, shall be submitted to the Minister for approval.

(6) If it is proposed to revoke a code of practice approved under this section, the proposed revocation shall be submitted to the Minister for approval.

(7) The Minister may approve, or approve subject to modifications, an amended code of practice submitted to the Minister under subsection (5)and, when such a code of practice has been so approved, it shall apply and have effect in accordance with its terms.

(8) The Minister may approve the revocation of a code of practice.

(9) A code of practice, or an amended code of practice, approved by the Minister under this section shall be made publicly available by the provost marshal.”

This is at the end of page 61. The amendment adds a new section, under the service of notices section, which relates to a code of practice. The amendment inserts a new section into the Bill to provide that the provost marshal shall, as soon as practicable, after the commencement of this section prepare a code of practice to provide practical guidance to members of the military police for the taking of samples for DNA testing under the legislation.

The code of practice will be prepared following consultation with the FSI. There is a similar provision in the Criminal Justice (Forensic Evidence and DNA Database System) Act under which a number of bodies, including An Garda Síochána, the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission and the director general of the Irish Prison Service are authorised to prepare codes of practice.

This is a minor amendment but it will be useful in ensuring that clear practical guidance is provided to members of the military police with regard to their functions under this Bill in respect of the taking of samples. It will also help to ensure a consistency in approach between this legislation and the Criminal Justice (Forensic Evidence and DNA Database System) Act. This has been done previously. It will be more straightforward to put this code of practice in place because there are already codes of practice in place for the other bodies I have mentioned. It is good practice. I propose that it be accepted.