Defence Forces (Evidence) Act 2022

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Amendment of section 72 of Act of 2014 (functions of committee)

84. Section 72 of the Act of 2014 is amended—

(a) in subsection (1), by—

(i) the substitution of “the DNA Database System and the DNA (Military Police) Database System” for “the DNA Database System”,

(ii) the substitution of “those Systems” for “the System” in each place where it occurs, and

(iii) the substitution of “this Act and the Act of 2022” for “this Act”,

(b) in subsection (2) —

(i) in paragraph (a), by—

(I) the substitution of “this Act and the Act of 2022” for “this Act”, and

(II) the substitution of “the DNA Database System or the DNA (Military Police) Database System, as the case may be,” for “the DNA Database System,”,

(ii) in paragraph (b), by the substitution of “this Act and the Act of 2022” for “this Act”,

(iii) in paragraph (c), by—

(I) the substitution of “the DNA Database System and the DNA (Military Police) Database System are” for “the DNA Database System is”,

(II) the substitution of “those Systems” for “the System”, and

(III) the substitution of “this Act or the Act of 2022, as the case may be,” for “this Act”,

(iv) in paragraph (d), by—

(I) the substitution of “the DNA Database System and the DNA (Military Police) Database System” for “the DNA Database System”, and

(II) the substitution of “the Ombudsman Commission, the Military Police Corps” for “the Ombudsman Commission”,

and

(v) by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (e):

“(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,”,

(c) in subsection (3) by—

(i) the substitution of “the DNA Database System and the DNA (Military Police) Database System” for “the DNA Database System”, and

(ii) the substitution of “the Minister, the Minister for Defence and the Director of FSI” for “the Minister and the Director of FSI”,

(d) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (4):

“(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).”,

(e) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (5):

“(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.”,

(f) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (6):

“(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.”,

and

(g) in subsection (7), by the substitution of “a Minister of the Government” for “the Minister”.