Derek McDowell (Labour)

——all he or she seemed to be and had a different parent from those whom that person considered to be his or her natural brothers and sisters. There is an issue in that respect.

Without going as far as Professor McConnell's view of saying that everyone's DNA should be automatically on a register as of duty, although I have some sympathy for that point of view because some of his arguments are good, I would at least agree that where a person has come to Garda attention, the idea of positively destroying something which could come in useful in the future is dubious. If a person is arrested and there is a strong suspicion that this person was involved in a paedophile sex act or an attempted rape, the notion this person's photograph must be deleted from being used in any mug shot album at a later stage where victims of a similar crime come to light is one with which I am sure Joe and Josephine Soap would not agree. It is a matter of judgment. I am not saying that one side is obviously right in this debate or one side is obviously wrong. It is a matter of degree and the issues are complicated. The notion that a sample given ten years ago could not be used to identify somebody who commits a serious offence would strike many people as deeply offensive.