Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour)
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I move amendment No. 79:

In page 22, to delete lines 32 to 38 and substitute the following: “20. (1) For the purposes of determining the sentence to be imposed on a person for an offence to which this section applies, a court shall, if it is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt from the evidence adduced in the proceedings, take into account as an aggravating

factor, that—

(a) where an individual is a victim of the offence, at the time of committing the offence or immediately before or after doing so, the person demonstrated hate towards the victim of the offence, or

(b) whether or not an individual is a victim of the offence, the offence was motivated wholly or partly by hate.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1)(b), an offence is motivated wholly or partly by hate if—

(a) an individual was selected as victim of the offence on account of his or her membership or presumed membership of a group defined by reference to a particular protected characteristic, and

(b) the reason for so selecting the victim is that, because of his or her membership of the group concerned and having regard to all the circumstances, the victim would be expected—

(i) to have impaired physical or mental capacity to understand or to resist the commission of the offence, or to communicate with others in relation to it, or

(ii) to be reluctant or unwilling to disclose to others that the offence had been committed.

(3) Subsection (1)applies without prejudice to any other enactment or rule of law and subject to subsections (4)and (5).”.

For the sake of brevity, I will not read it out. I invite the Minister to respond.