Anyone arrested for a crime with a jail term of five years or more will be obliged to provide a DNA sample to be stored indefinitely on the new DNA database, the Sunday Tribune can reveal.

Additionally, all prisoners must provide DNA samples that could link them to other crimes under controversial new legislation that is expected to be met with opposition by inmates and civil liberties groups.

The mandatory DNA obligation is contentious, as the details of people who have never been convicted of a crime are to be retained. However, a legal mechanism will be put in place whereby anyone whose DNA is stored can apply to have it removed.

Anyone convicted of a crime must also provide a sample for the database when the legislation is enacted.

A government source acknowledged it may encounter "problems" with prisoners refusing to provide swabs but was confident "we can surmount them". The Prison Service has been contacted by the Department of Justice and is understood to have "no problem" with the plan. In the US in 2002, inmates in 12 states refused to give DNA samples citing privacy concerns.

Tanya Ward, deputy director of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, said it would oppose some of the measures in the new bill and would make representations to the minster upon its publication.

The organisation opposes the measure that all prisoners must provide samples, saying people incarcerated for minor offences – "like bad debt or not having a TV licence" – should not be forced to give DNA. The group also objected to anyone arrested for a crime carrying a five-year jail term or more having to provide a sample, saying: "If you're innocent, you have a right to bodily integrity."

The UK and most other European countries already have DNA databases containing criminals' data and police in other jurisdictions have found it an effective crime-fighting tool. They work by taking DNA and matching it by computer to the blood, semen and other body fluids left at crime scenes.