Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for taking this Topical Issue matter and holding it over from before the summer recess. I sincerely congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy James Browne, on his deserved appointment. I wish him well and hope he has a fruitful time in the Department.

As the Minister of State will be aware, hate crime legislation was promised in the first 12 months of this Government. It is needed to hold people to account for their actions, and more important, their words. It is prohibited to incite hatred against an individual or a group based on age, race, religion, sexual orientation or nationality. However, the law does not cover hatred based on gender, disability, civil status, family status or age. These characteristics must be included in the forthcoming legislation, which is set to ensure that those who target someone based on his or her identity are classified as perpetrators of hate crime.

Worryingly, we have seen a rise in the number of hate crimes reported in Ireland in five of the previous six years, with 250 crimes recorded last year alone. However, we all know the actual figure is most likely significantly higher, as many of these offences simply go unreported. We must take firm actions against hate crimes and the use of hate speech in order to make Ireland a safer place for everyone. In recent years, we have seen words of hatred and fearmongering creep into our public discourse. We have all seen individuals on social media inciting hatred and encouraging the spread of misinformation. In recent months, protests have been organised outside our Parliament at which individuals held pictures of nooses to threaten our colleagues. To even name the people who perpetrate this would do a great disservice to society but we have all seen the videos at this stage. With over half of politicians reporting that they have experienced online abuse, it is clear that there is a group of people in society who feel comfortable sending off a nasty social media message or email to someone they have never met, simply for the sake of causing hurt and upset. This is incredibly worrying. The reposting of hateful material should also be addressed in the legislation. It can cause just as much hurt as the original post.

In my constituency of Dublin Rathdown, there have been worrying incidents, including one where a man was verbally abused by a group of teenagers and told he did not belong here because he is originally from another country. A teenage girl was assaulted, egged and had her hijab removed in Dundrum in recent months. Houses have been daubed with sectarian images, swastikas and phrases I would not feel comfortable repeating in this House, let alone in any forum. There must be clear punishments for these horrific actions. A hate crime can have a long-lasting impact on the victim and it can lead to far more worrying events. Hate crimes may start as words but sometimes they lead to actions. We need only look at the events in the UK over four years ago, when what started with hate speech sadly led to the assassination of a Member of Parliament outside her office as she was leaving a constituency clinic, something everyone in this House does weekly, if not daily.

Ireland is known as the land of one hundred thousand welcomes. If we want to live up to this mantra, we need to take action and ensure everyone who is in this country feels comfortable, regardless of his or her status or any of the other characteristics to which I referred.

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