Compulsory DNA tests make sense

THE horrific sexual assault on the four-year-old boy in Dundalk has raised the question of whether a suspect in such a case should be compelled to give a DNA sample.

According to Dr Jim O’Donovan of the State Forensic Laboratory, the gardaí should be able to authorise the taking of a DNA sample from a suspect.

It is a proposition which warrants serious consideration, along with his call for the establishment of a DNA database containing samples of sex offenders.