C9

Prospective amending provision: section amended by Defence Forces (Evidence) Act 2022(16/2022), s. 84(a)(i)-(iii), (b)(i)-(v), (c)(i), (ii), (d), (e), (f), (g), not commenced as of date of revision.

72. (1) The Committee shall oversee the management and operation of F18[the DNA Database System and the DNA (Military Police) Database System] for the purposes of maintaining the integrity and security of F18[those Systems] and shall, for those purposes, satisfy itself that the provisions of F18[this Act and the Act of 2022] in relation to F18[those Systems] are being complied with.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), the Committee shall oversee—

(a) the arrangements employed by the Director of FSI in relation to the receipt, handling, transmission and storage of samples taken under F18[this Act and the Act of 2022] for the purpose of generating DNA profiles for entry in F18[the DNA Database System or the DNA (Military Police) Database System, as the case may be,]

(b) the procedures employed by the Director of FSI in relation to the generation of DNA profiles from the samples taken under F18[this Act and the Act of 2022], and the quality control and quality assurance of those procedures, to ensure that they comply with international best practice,

(c) the measures employed by the Director of FSI to ensure that F18[the DNA Database System and the DNA (Military Police) Database System are] not improperly accessed by any person, that the DNA profiles and information entered in F18[those Systems] are used only for the purposes permitted by F18[this Act or the Act of 2022] and that they are not improperly disclosed to any person,

(d) the means by which the results of searches of F18[the DNA Database System and the DNA (Military Police) Database System] are reported by the Director of FSI to the Garda Síochána, F18[the Ombudsman Commission, the Military Police Corps] or a coroner, as may be appropriate,

F18[(e) the practices and procedures employed by the Director of FSI to ensure that samples taken under this Act or the Act of 2022 for the purpose of generating DNA profiles for entry in the DNA Database System or the DNA (Military Police) Database System, as the case may be, are destroyed, and the DNA profiles generated from those samples are removed from the system concerned, in accordance with Part 10 or the Act of 2022, as the case may be,]

(f) the practices and procedures employed by the Director of FSI in the operation of Chapters 2 and 7 of Part 12, and

(g) the practices and procedures employed by the Director of FSI in the operation of section 4.

(3) The Committee shall, in the performance of its functions under subsections (1) and (2), make such recommendations as it considers appropriate in relation to the management and operation of F18[the DNA Database System and the DNA (Military Police) Database System] to F18[the Minister, the Minister for Defence and the Director of FSI], as may be appropriate.

F18[(4) The Committee may, and if so requested by the Minister (in respect of the DNA Database System) or the Minister for Defence (in respect of the DNA (Military Police) Database System) shall, review any matter relating to the management and operation of the DNA Database System or the DNA (Military Police) Database System and shall submit a report in writing of any such review to the Minister (where the report relates to the DNA Database System) or the Minister for Defence (where the report relates to the DNA (Military Police) Database System).]

F18[(5) Subject to subsections (6) and (7), a Minister of the Government to whom a report was submitted under subsection (4) shall, as soon as practicable after receiving the report, cause a copy of it to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas and to be published in such manner as the Minister of the Government concerned considers appropriate.]

F18[(6) A Minister of the Government to whom a report was submitted under subsection (4) may, when laying a copy of the report before each House of the Oireachtas or publishing the report, omit any matter from the copy of the report that is so laid or published if he or she is of the opinion that the disclosure of the matter —

(a) would be prejudicial to the security of the DNA Database System, the security of the DNA (Military Police) Database System, the security of the State or the investigation of criminal offences, or

(b) may infringe the constitutional rights of any person.]

(7) If a matter is omitted in accordance with subsection (6) from a report received by F18[a Minister of the Government] under subsection (4), a statement to that effect shall be attached to the copy of the report when it is laid before each House of the Oireachtas or is published.