Irish DNA database to be introduced

11 September 2013 Last updated at 07:21 ET

The Irish justice minister has published legislation to introduce a national DNA database in the Republic of Ireland.

Work to prepare the legislation has been under way for two years and Justice Minister Alan Shatter said he expects the database to be operational in 2014.

He said the key aim of the bill was to assist police in tackling crime.

Mr Shatter said it would help link crimes and identify suspects.

"The intelligence generated will be invaluable to the Garda in relation to identifying prolific offenders involved in volume crime such as burglary, but also in relation to serious offences against the person, such as homicide and sexual offences," he said.

"It will contribute to the move towards more effective, targeted and smarter policing and will also facilitate co-operation with other police forces in relation to mobile criminals."

The minister insisted the database would also be of benefit in establishing the innocence of persons suspected or wrongly convicted of offences.

Mr Shatter said "substantial changes" had been made to the bill put forward by the previous government in 2010.

"The bill published today is substantially amended in many respects to address issues that gave rise to genuine concerns, including in relation to the sensitive area of the retention of samples and DNA profiles of persons who are not subsequently convicted in order to ensure that any interference with their privacy rights is justified by the public interest in the investigation of crime and is proportionate," he said.

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Irish DNA database to be introduced