Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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327. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if he or his Department were informed by the Garda Commissioner in July 2021 that the Garda National Technical Bureau unearthed that approximately 17,000 live scan fingerprint records were irretrievably lost from the Garda automated fingerprint identification system subsequent to such fingerprint records going into suspended status due to system failures and that this significant data loss was solely discovered/identified as a result of revised processes introduced in the National Forensic Coordination Office in December 2019. [8679/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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The Garda Commissioner is responsible under section 26 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005 (as amended) for the management and administration of Garda business. This includes all operational policing matters, the maintenance of Garda IT systems and recording of data. The Minister has no role in these independent functions.

I sought information from An Garda Síochána in relation to the Deputy's question and I am advised that, in January 2019, following the divestment of the role and function of An Garda Síochána’s Fingerprint Section to Forensic Science Ireland, An Garda Síochána assigned the National Forensic Coordination Office the function of implementing and operating a corporate governance framework. This was to ensure ongoing compliance with the retention and destruction requirements contained in Part 11 of the Criminal Justice (Forensic Evidence and DNA Database system) Act 2014.

An Garda Síochána has confirmed its compliance with the retention and destruction requirements contained in Part 11 of the 2014 Act with regard to fingerprints taken by An Garda Síochána post 1 January 2019 and my Department has been informed that An Garda Síochána are planning an audit of the paper-based records from the period prior to 2019.

My Department has no record of being informed of the issue referred to in the Deputy’s question in July 2021.