Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 55:

In page 15, to delete lines 33 to 36, and in page 16, to delete lines 1 to 4.

The proposed deletion of these lines would be appropriate because if we leave them in, it could result in legislative overreach. For example, if somebody robs a shop - that person should not rob a shop and certainly should not be violent about it - he or she might use sexist language to the woman behind the counter by calling her "an f---ing c---" or whatever and then be charged, on top of the offence of robbing the shop, with an offence under this legislation, which could result in severe addition to sentences. It is overreach that may make the legislation very unpalatable because it does more than intended and does so without the understanding that that sort of language is often used in heated moments without the intention of hatred. It can often be an expression of frustration and, sometimes, defeat rather than one of hate and intimidation. It is the intent that matters. We could end up with overreach through the addition of a lot of heavy sentencing, which should not be the intent of the legislation.