Eoghan Kenny (Cork North-Central, Labour)
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752. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality for an update as of July 2025 on the Programme for Government commitment to increase investment in Forensic Science Ireland to support criminal investigations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39535/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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As Minister for Justice, I am committed to ensuring that the Justice sector has the resources it needs and Government is continuing to invest in the agencies that support this goal, including Forensic Science Ireland (FSI).

My predecessor secured an investment of over €300 million a year in capital projects for the Justice sector under the National Development Plan. This capital investment ranges across a number of areas such as ICT, transport investment and capital building and refurbishment works in An Garda Síochána, the Irish Prison Service, the Courts Service, FSI and my own Department.

The current NDP has already delivered a new state of the art laboratory for FSI. This is the largest ever capital project directly funded by the Exchequer in the Justice sector, at a cost of over €100 million which reflects the crucial role that FSI plays in the criminal justice system.

The new building for FSI provides laboratory and administrative facilities which are modern, secure, and capable of meeting operational forensic analysis demands, as well as anticipating the medium to long term needs of the FSI service in the future. The scale and type of facility that has been developed is proportional and appropriate to the operational and administrative needs of FSI. The new building in Backweston, County Kildare comprises of biology, chemistry, drugs and DNA analysis laboratories and related technical areas which will have the capacity to process all cases submitted for forensic analysis.

Insofar as further investment in FSI is concerned, this will be considered in the context of the annual Estimates process and the ongoing review of the NDP.