merrion street

Speaking at the launch today of the Rape Crisis Centre's annual report for 2012,Justice Minister Alan 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 a DNA Database would revolutionise the detection of

sex crime as it has in every country with a database around the globe.  “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.

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.