Press release
Minister McEntee publishes the DNA Database System Oversight Committee Annual Report 2023
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The Minister for Justice Helen McEntee TD has today (Thursday) published the annual report of the DNA Database System Oversight Committee.
The findings of the 2023 annual report reflect the increasing importance of the DNA Database System in the criminal justice system and in the investigation of crime, with the database having assisted in 730 investigations throughout 2023.
• At the end of 2023 the DNA Database system contained 74,628 individual DNA profiles, a 10.9% increase on 2022
• On the same date there were 55,427 DNA profiles on the Reference Index, and 12,121 crime stains on the DNA Database System, representing an increase of 10.7% and 10.2% respectively, since 2022
The annual report also highlighted the value of the DNA Database System in supporting international crime investigations. At the end of 2023, Forensic Science Ireland (FSI) was exchanging DNA data with 11 countries under the Prüm Treaty. Significant investigative results were achieved through the information exchanged, in particular information exchanged between Ireland and the United Kingdom. FSI intends to commence further connections with additional countries in 2024.
Minister McEntee said:
“This national DNA database is one of the most important crime fighting tools we have and is an essential part of our criminal justice system. I want to thank the Oversight Committee for their continued work to ensure that the integrity and efficiency of the database is upheld to the highest standard.
“The use of DNA evidence is one which is both growing and developing rapidly; and putting some of our most serious criminals behind bars. The crime solving capacity of the Database will continue to grow as the Database grows.
“And as the DNA Database System has grown considerably and become an important resource for identifying perpetrators, it also continues to have an international reach through information exchange with other countries under the Prüm Treaty.”
The 2023 annual report also outlined the ongoing collaboration and engagement between the Oversight Committee and criminal justice agencies involved in the collection of DNA samples under the Criminal Justice Act 2014, most notably the Irish Prison Service and An Garda Síochána.
All Garda recruits since the coming into effect of the Act of 2014 including those recruited during the pandemic have now provided the required DNA samples under the 2014 Act.
A substantial proportion of the backlog of DNA samples from relevant convicted offenders serving prison sentences that had accrued within the Irish Prison Service since sampling ceased in 2020, as a result of COVID-19, has also been cleared.
A number of key milestones were reached on Forensic Science Ireland’s transition to the Backweston Campus in Celbridge, Co. Kildare throughout 2023. The possession of the building was officially transferred to FSI on 3 July 2023, with the first staff inductions and transitions taking place on 4 July 2023.
ENDS
Notes to editor:
Forensic Science Ireland (FSI) is responsible for the operation of the national DNA Database System. The database constitutes a major intelligence resource for the investigation of crime. The database is populated with samples taken from persons suspected/convicted of serious crime and from crime scenes.
The independent Oversight Committee oversees the management and operation of the DNA Database System for the purposes of maintaining the integrity and security of the System.
Under s.74 of the Criminal Justice (Forensic Evidence and DNA Database System) Act 2014, the DNA Database System Oversight Committee is required to report annually on its work and the Minister is required to lay such reports before the Houses of the Oireachtas.