BUDGET 2016: Troubled DNA database due in weeks with staff pledge

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

The database will allow investigators to check DNA samples from crime scenes with samples from suspects and convicted criminals.

Gardaí and forensic scientists consider it an essential tool in modern policing and Ireland is thought to be the only country in the EU without a DNA database.