The State’s forensic science chief has described as cynical the Government’s decision to delay funding for a much-needed forensic laboratory until 2019.

Ireland’s forensic science chief has warned the Government that the State faces the risk of “very large expense and untold reputational damage” from the collapse of a court case due to contamination of DNA samples caused by poor laboratory conditions.

Authorities cannot say they were unaware of the potential for catastrophe in forensic science as

The head of Forensic Science Ireland has said she is “not overly impressed” by the four-year wait for a much-promised new building.

Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has said new rights for victims of crime due to come into effect on Monday would be honoured despite the Government’s failure to pass the Victims of Crime Bill in time.

A DNA database — promised more than eight years ago —will be up and running in the coming weeks, Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has said.

Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has ordered her officials to “reactivate” shelved plans to build a proper laboratory for the State’s neglected forensic science agency.

The Department of Justice is considering a number of options to bring to an end the crisis bedeviling the State’s forensic agency but no “specific arrangements” have yet been made.

The State’s forensic science agency is in “crisis” in terms of its staffing and facilities, the head of the body has told an Oireachtas committee.

THE head of the Forensic Science Laboratory, who will oversee the planned DNA database, has described how a mass “screening” or sampling of people may be carried out to help solve rape cases.

IRISH researchers have been ranked among the world’s best in terms of the impact of their work on immunology.