Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

-----the final paragraph of which reads:

The Deputies are again to be commended for seeking to address hate through the criminal law. We look forward to working with you in developing this issue further.

It is very unfair to say that we were asked to withdraw this Bill. I only became aware of this on Friday and only got a copy of the heads of the Bill that the former Minister, now Senator Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, had put together. I accept it does go further than our Bill. I literally only received that on Friday. I was not aware of it before then. If I had received it prior to that, I accept that we would have made changes within this Bill. That is why it is important that we will have an opportunity in committee to have open and honest debate. I certainly would take on board aspects of that Bill.

Deputy O'Brien mentioned that we just copied and pasted this Bill from the Scottish legislation. That is completely untrue. We looked at the legislation in the UK and in Northern Ireland where his party has much more influence than it has in the Republic.

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