Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Burke for raising this important matter and giving me the opportunity to provide clarity and some views on the issue. I also want to thank him for and acknowledge his ongoing work and interest in the area. His Private Member's Bill had a positive impact in terms some legislative change in Ireland.

I would like to begin by acknowledging the families of missing persons, families who have engaged with the Department of Justice in recent years on an important and sensitive issue. Not knowing where a family member is or what has happened to them is a tragic and devastating situation to be in. While working tirelessly to find their loved ones, these families have put forward numerous recommendations to Government to assist in locating missing persons. One of the measures proposed by the families was the establishment of a central data set containing all known information on unidentified remains. I am very pleased that earlier this month my Department published the coroners' database on unidentified remains.

Regarding the contents of the database, there are 44 records of unidentified remains. Of those, 29 are full human remains while 15 are partial remains. The remains were found across 12 different counties in Ireland. A DNA profile is available for 28 of the records and it is intended, where possible, to carry out further DNA profiling. Following the announcement last year to collate this data set, the Department of Justice worked closely with coroners, Forensic Science Ireland and An Garda Síochána's missing persons unit to compile and publish this information. The introduction of the new national DNA database in 2015 by Forensic Science Ireland was a key turning point in the identification of human remains in Ireland. It has enabled missing people to be matched by DNA to unidentified bodies, helping to bring some element of closure to families searching for their loved ones.

My Department established a forum in July 2021, alongside the Coroners Society of Ireland, An Garda Síochána's missing persons unit and Forensic Science Ireland, to facilitate information exchange on unidentified remains. While the Department has no immediate plans to establish a centralised office of State forensic pathologist, I assure Deputy Burke that further meetings of the stakeholder forum will be held this year and this is an opportunity to perhaps further explore his idea and discuss improvements that could be made to the gathering and sharing of unidentified remains and missing persons data.

It is also intended that the data set will be updated on an ongoing basis and we will be looking constantly to better understand how this information can be used to reunite the remains of missing persons with their families.

We are all united in wanting to achieve the same outcome, that being, ensuring families get closure and that there is a co-ordinated use of technology, information and databases to bring about that degree of closure. Crucially, we must continue listening closely to the families of missing people and work with them to try to implement their recommendations.

Respectfully, the suggestions and input the Deputy is making are the types of information we can now feed into future stakeholder forum meetings, which will take place with families later this year.

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