Poor lab facilities are ‘big risk’ to evidence and successful convictions says forensic chief

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.

Sheila Willis also told the authorities that the new DNA database, which was eventually launched last November, “will be ineffective” because of the limited capacity of the laboratory to take enough DNA samples.

In correspondence released under the Freedom of Information Act, she said this was “ironic” in light of the initiative by Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald to target burglaries, given that DNA databases are most effective in investigating such crimes.