Ms Fiona Hurley:

I want to speak to the incitement question asked by Deputy Kenny. One of the issues is that the incitement to hatred and hate speech are part of the same Bill, which has confused a lot of people. The fact that the consultation that was done on this Bill was exclusively limited to hate speech has also added to the confusion.

Nasc is part of Coalition Against Hate Crime Ireland. One of the recommendations that it made, which was by 18 NGOs and civil society groups, as well as academics who work in this area, was for consideration to be given to separating the incitement to hatred or hate speech element versus the hate crime element. That would, hopefully, avoid some of the confusion between the two distinct parts of the legislation. Even the name of the legislation does not reflect the fact that there are two different parts of the legislation. The Bill is entitled the criminal justice (hate crime) Bill but actually it is hate crime and incitement to hatred or hate speech. That would assist with public understanding of the Bill.