Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

In responding to Deputy Broughan on a most serious issue, the Taoiseach referred to the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill 2017. The Bill was supposed to have been enacted last summer. I note the Department of Justice and Equality had brought a group of Bills to enactment last year but this was not one of them.

More than half of Deputies who responded to a recent survey carried out by RTÉ stated they had personal death threats made against them while 70% of them had threats of physical violence. Some female Deputies stated they had been threatened with rape. One has to have a certain thick skin to be involved in politics. However, most of us realise - one sees this happening in the UK – that the threshold is often overstepped. We need to protect against hate speech and viciousness online.

A contributor to our party conference last weekend, a Kenyan-born candidate, spoke about the overwhelming sexist and racist bullying she experienced online.

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