Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

We are not born with racist attitudes. It is always adults who instill them into society. It is a learned behaviour and it is something we need not only to confront in society but in terms of the law. It is a big issue and a consequence of such behaviour is that these people will retrench into their own communities and we do not want that. We need people to mix and be part of the general population. That is good for us and it is good for them. I encourage people in the event of such abuse occurring to report it. Even if it is carried out against a teenager, and most especially if that is the case, it is important to report the incident because teenagers are far more vulnerable.