DNA polymerase that functions in several pathways of DNA repair (PubMed:11457865, PubMed:19806195, PubMed:20693240, PubMed:30250067). Involved in base excision repair (BER) responsible for repair of lesions that give rise to abasic (AP) sites in DNA (PubMed:11457865, PubMed:19806195). Also contributes to DNA double- strand break repair by non-homologous end joining and homologous recombination (PubMed:19806195, PubMed:20693240, PubMed:30250067). Has both template-dependent and template-independent (terminal transferase) DNA polymerase activities (PubMed:10887191, PubMed:10982892, PubMed:12809503, PubMed:14627824, PubMed:15537631, PubMed:19806195). Also has a 5'-deoxyribose-5-phosphate lyase (dRP lyase) activity (PubMed:11457865, PubMed:19806195). {ECO:0000269|PubMed:10887191, ECO:0000269|PubMed:10982892, ECO:0000269|PubMed:11457865, ECO:0000269|PubMed:12809503, ECO:0000269|PubMed:14627824, ECO:0000269|PubMed:15537631, ECO:0000269|PubMed:19806195, ECO:0000269|PubMed:20693240, ECO:0000269|PubMed:30250067}. This is the function of ENSG00000166169 (POLL, DNA polymerase lambda).