Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)

The Minister stated judges can take aggravating factors, including racial motivation, into account when sentencing. However, one of the issues that arises is that they do not have to do so. This needs to be resolved. Leaving it to the discretion of the judge is a mistake.

Do we know the number of people who have been prosecuted under the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989 and the number of racially motivated crimes reported to the Office for the Promotion of Migrant Integration?

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