Shatter tells Dublin Rape Crisis Centre that DNA Database will revolutionise the detection and prevention of rape and sexual assault

Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence, Alan Shatter TD, today launched
the Annual Report of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre for 2012.

The Minister availed of the opportunity to speak about the establishment of
a DNA Database in Ireland and the contribution that the Database can make
to the detection and prevention of sex crimes.

Minister Shatter said that the Government was committed to the
establishment of a DNA Database. Work undertaken over the past two years
on the preparation of the required legislation is virtually complete and
the Minister said that he expects to publish the necessary and important
legislation in September. It is his intention that the database will be
operational during 2014.

The Minister said that a DNA Database would revolutionise the detection of
sex crime as it has in every country with a database around the globe. The
Minister went on to say that “Our Database will hold the DNA profiles of
every person convicted of any offence that attracts a sentence of 5 years
or more, which covers rape and most sexual offences. On top of that people
serving prison sentences when the legislation is enacted will also have
their profiles put on the database.”

The Minister added “Rape and sexual assault are abhorrences that blight our
country. The Gardaí do everything in their power to prevent these crimes
and to detect them when they occur and DNA has played an important role in
solving many sex crimes. However, without a database, we cannot exploit
the full potential of the technology.”

Once the DNA Database is operational, the Gardaí will be able to match
crime scene samples with profiles on the database. On top of that, the
enhanced international cooperation provisions will allow the Gardaí to
access DNA Databases in other EU member states, and in other countries with
which we have bilateral arrangements including the United States.

Minister Shatter addressed civil and human rights concerns about the use of
DNA and the storage of profiles, saying that “The legislation that I will
publish will fully conform to the highest human rights standards. It will
be proportional and fair. Every person is entitled to go about their daily
lives in safety without fear of rape or sexual assault. Victims of such
assault have a right to expect that all modern scientific technology will
be utilised to assist the Gardaí in bringing perpetrators to justice and
Government also has a duty to ensure that serial offenders are readily
identified so as to protect the wider community. When it comes to the
balance to be struck between the infringement of human rights that the
taking of a mouth swab from a convicted rapist represents with the gross
violation of human rights that is rape, there is no contest in my view.”

Concluding his remarks, the Minister congratulated the Dublin Rape Crisis
Centre on its work and said that he hoped that significant progress will
have been made towards the establishment of the DNA Database by the time
their next Annual Report is launched.