Anne Ferris (Wicklow, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Bill. Legislation on the collection and management of DNA evidence is long overdue. This is an example of our laws playing catch-up with modern medical science. It has taken a while to get this right, but it seems that the Bill is a responsible balance between the use of modern science for the public good and maintaining the legal rights of the accused in criminal proceedings.

The use of DNA evidence in our courtrooms is not new. During the past two decades, some of the most high-profile cases involving the murders, and often rapes, of women were prosecuted using DNA evidence. The cases of Rose Farrelly, Imelda Riney, Marilyn Rynne, Phyllis Murphy and Rachel Kiely all relied on the ability to use DNA evidence in court. We must wonder how many unsolved cases could be solved and how many families of victims could be granted closure if Ireland kept a record of the DNA profiles of convicted criminals. We regularly read of cases in the US and UK involving serious crimes that were solved many years later due to the matching of DNA from unrelated crimes.

One story that has stayed in my mind is the tragic 1981 murder of the 14 year old schoolgirl Marion Crofts in Aldershot, England. Her case was solved 21 years later as a result of a DNA swab taken at a police station from a man who had been arrested and charged with a domestic violence crime.

Without a DNA database, her family might still not know the identity of her killer.

We also have to wonder how many serious crimes might actually be prevented by this legislation. If criminals were aware that their DNA was already on file from a prior crime, might that knowledge alone not be enough to prevent at least some of them from re-offending? If even one murder was avoided owing to this legislation, it would have more than earned its place on our Statute Book.

There is no doubt in my mind that these proposed new laws could greatly assist gardaí when tracing missing persons. The legislation before us provides for family members of missing people to volunteer DNA for analysis to assist gardaí in their tracing operations. Volunteer evidence is not treated in the same manner as DNA samples taken from criminals and can be removed from the file on request by the donor.

This Bill is also an acknowledgement of the international nature of many crimes and the value of being able to share DNA records with police forces in other jurisdictions, for example, when dealing with suspects or victims who may have left the State or perhaps are living here after committing crimes in other countries.

I welcome the protections in the legislation that are given to suspects who are not charged with any crime or, indeed, to people who are found innocent of a crime. In these cases, the DNA record can be removed from the database. In this regard, it should also be noted that DNA databases have been used in other countries to prove the innocence of suspects and exonerate wrongly convicted persons.

The proposed legislation also recognises the efforts that are being made by the justice system to divert children and teens from crime. In most cases, it provides for the removal of the child's evidence from the database after a period of four years if they have not re-offended. I welcome this aspect of the legislation as it is in keeping with the aims of the early intervention and restorative justice programmes that are being discussed at present.

I support this Bill and look forward to examining it further on Committee Stage.

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