The database, which was established in 2015, contained 27,565 DNA profiles at the end of 2019, a dramatic 53 per cent increase from 17,994 in the previous year.

Overall, the DNA database identified 780 hits in 2019, which assisted in 1,011 cases, ranging from burglary and criminal damage to crimes against the person, sexual assaults and suspicious deaths.

Using an international metric, the crime solving capacity of the database can be recorded at 43 per cent – meaning that 43 out of every 100 crime scene samples uploaded onto the database will be linked to a person.

In 2019, FSI began exchanging DNA profiles with other European countries through the Prüm Treaty, starting with Austria on 2 October. A fuller expansion with all Prüm participants is “planned in the coming years”.

Over 3,500 unidentified crime stains from the Irish database were searched against the Austrian database of 239,000 reference profiles of suspects and convicted offenders. Austria also searched 40,300 unidentified crime stains against 25,350 reference profiles on the Irish national database.

By the end of the year, 17 crime stains in Ireland were matched to individuals on the Austrian database. These included profiles from two sexual assaults, a cluster of five burglaries, a fraud case and nine further burglaries or thefts. Similarly, seven Austrian crime stains have matched reference profiles on the Irish database (one convicted offender and six suspects).

Welcoming the report, Justice Minister Helen McEntee said: “Forensic Science Ireland provides a critical service within Ireland’s criminal justice system. While An Garda Síochána are involved in the collection of evidence, be it physical or digital, FSI analyses and evaluates most of the physical evidence from crime scenes, and represent this in court. FSI has made an invaluable contribution since its establishment in 1975.”