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Identity Cards Bill

moved Amendment No. 43:"Page 2, line 28, at end insert ““, other than DNA information””" The noble Baroness said: We turn now to the issue of whether DNA can, or should, in any way be part of the information on the register. The matter was raised in our first discussion last week, on Amendment No. 1, and I have no intention of rerunning that debate. I note that the Minister kindly wrote to noble Lords on the issue of DNA in response to a question raised by my noble and learned friend Lord Lyell of Markyate. The Minister said in that letter, which is undated:"““We have always been clear that biometric information taken under the powers set out in the Bill would be limited to ‘external’ characteristics, such as fingerprints and features of an iris. This is set out at clause 43(1) of the Bill and would not include DNA””." I know that the Government intend that to be reassuring but my difficulty is that Clause 1 is not even framed in relation to biometric information, which is actually defined in Clause 43 as referring to external characteristics. One has to ask why not. Should we not make it clear that this information cannot be added? I have questions which relate specifically to matters that were put to the Minister last week and to which she has not responded in her letter. There may be good reasons why she was not able to do so. If she is not able to do so again today then perhaps she might write to me on them. Will the Minister confirm that, when fingerprints are taken, it is now technologically possible to recover DNA from that same sampling? I ask that because of the points that were put to the Minister by her noble friend Lady Kennedy of The Shaws, as reported in col. 978 of Hansard of 15 November 2005. My other question reflects upon comments made by the noble Lord, Lord Phillips of Sudbury, at col. 980 and by my noble friend Lord Lucas at col. 981. Will the fingerprint sample be destroyed so that it is beyond use for any collection of DNA, if indeed it is possible to recover any DNA from the sample? The Minister said that DNA is not included in the Bill and that there are no powers to take DNA samples, which is fine. But, as the noble Lord, Lord Phillips, pointed out, there is a power in Clause 3(5) to extend what is included in the Bill within the remit of Clause 1(5). As my noble friend Lord Lucas pointed out, it is clear that identity comes under Clause 1(5) and identity is comprised of physical characteristics that are capable of being used to identify somebody. What is DNA if it is not just that? This is strictly a probing amendment through which I invite the Minister to respond, in particular, on the technical issue of recovery of DNA from fingerprints. I beg to move.