Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

In 2006 Professor Ingvar Kopp, the former head of the Swedish Forensic Science Laboratory, was engaged by my Department to review the resource needs of the Forensic Science Laboratory and his report was published in January 2008.

His review has been of immense value to the laboratory's modernisation process. It has contributed greatly to the mapping out of the future development of the State's forensic science analysis service, especially in the area of DNA analysis. Overall, the review found that the laboratory compares well in terms of productivity with similar forensic science laboratories in other jurisdictions and that effective quality control mechanisms are in place.

The primary recommendations of the review include the construction of a new modern laboratory built to world-class standards, the establishment of a sophisticated DNA database to meet national and international obligations and to greatly up-skill our domestic response to detecting and prosecuting crime, and the provision of improved technical, professional and administrative staffing resources.

Considerable progress is being made in the implementation of the recommendations. For example, 12 new forensic scientists and 14 new laboratory analysts have been recruited. Further administrative staff, including an assistant principal IT manager, have been assigned to the laboratory. The overall authorised staffing complement of the laboratory has increased by more than 30 posts since December 2006. This substantial extension of the Forensic Science Laboratory's capacity represents an increase of almost 50% in approved staffing.

Planning for the implementation of the DNA database is continuing, although the database cannot be established until the legislation that is currently before this House is enacted. I have allocated €4.1 million to facilitate the development of the database-----

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