Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour)

I raise this issue as I believe urgent steps must be taken by the Minister - hopefully he will return to the Chamber soon - and this Government to tackle the increasing problem of racially-provoked attacks on foreign national members of our community. These racist incidents cover the entire spectrum including physical, verbal and psychological attacks. As Irish society becomes more diverse, our primary agenda as parliamentarians in tackling the problem of racially provoked attacks should be to make Irish society more inclusive, tolerant and open to accepting and understanding our new friends and neighbours who have come to Ireland from other countries.

While attacks on members of our new communities cannot be deemed to be racist in all cases, there is substantial evidence to suggest that racism is on the increase in Ireland. A very recent and tragic example was the attack on and subsequent death of Moses Ayanwole, a Nigerian taxi-driver. This attack has created great fear in the African community. I spoke to the leaders of the African community in Ireland at a press conference in Buswells Hotel and their fear is palpable. I refer also to the horrendous attack on Alexandra Trotsenko, an artist whose three fingers were severed in a burglary attack on her home. There has been an allegation of a gang rape of a young African girl. I also wish to highlight the sad and tragic experience in my constituency of Dublin South-Central when two Polish men were savagely beaten and killed with a screwdriver. I commend the work of the integration centre, the Immigrant Council of Ireland, Show Racism the Red Card and Dublin City Council's office for integration. These bodies do tremendous work in attempting to counteract racism in Irish society on very limited budgets and with stretched resources. Not enough is being done. I ask the Department of Justice and Equality and specifically the office for the promotion of migrant integration to work closely with these bodies to have a sustained and targeted campaign to tackle racism in all its forms in our society.

The Minister of State will be aware it is Government and local government policy that Ireland and Dublin, in particular, are internationally marketed as a country and city open for business. Dublin is marketed as an open, friendly, tolerant, diverse and welcoming city. Students from countries as diverse as China and Oman have been invited to come to Ireland to study and our universities are encouraged to look wide and far for international students. The Department of Health has recruited people from India and Pakistan to fill the skills shortage in the health service. We must take urgent action to prevent the spread of racism. If racism, and in particular racially-motivated attacks, continue to occur, these will have a detrimental impact on the economic progress of our society. The reputational damage for Ireland or Dublin will be massive if racism takes a foothold. It is essential that we are seen as an attractive place for inward investment and therefore racism must be tackled. Foreign multinational companies will not invest in a country that is open to racism. I conclude on that point but I hope to deal with some additional points after the Minister of State has spoken.

See this speech in context