Minister wants crime database to hold DNA evidence

JUSTICE Minister Michael McDowell unveiled plans yesterday to force suspects to give saliva and mouth swabs for forensic examination and establishment of a DNA evidence database.

The Minister had indicated he is in favour of the database. But only last week in a written Dáil answer, he said he had no plans to change the law to permit the taking, without consent, of blood and other intimate body samples.

Currently, a suspect arrested under 1990 criminal justice laws can refuse to give ‘intimate’ samples, although refusal can be taken as corroboration of evidence in a court case. The sample is destroyed within six months if no proceedings have started or after a case is closed.