Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

I am happy that the Minister intends to erect a building to ensure that the integrity of samples is preserved. I hope he will do the same for other evidence brought before the courts which at present is retained in Garda stations but not under proper lock and key.

Is the Minister satisfied that we have sufficient expertise, an adequate methodology and sufficiently cutting-edge modern technology for the testing of DNA samples? In nearly every controversial case that comes before the courts we seem to have to go abroad for DNA testing. Do we have the resources and sufficient staff to conduct the sampling and provide a proper database ourselves?

See this speech in context