Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am very pleased to be able to speak on this issue. It is hugely important. There is so much to be said about Pride and the importance of expressing pride and of facilitating that expression of pride but I will focus on two particular issues.

The first is conversion therapy, which is not banned in this jurisdiction. This practice is there to "convert" or "cure" people of their sexual orientation or gender identity, or tell them that it is wrong, and essentially convince them of the opposite. It is appalling. The UN recognises it as a form of torture. It is done in the totally misguided belief that these things are a choice and can be changed when we all know they are inherent in people. Conversion therapy is banned in a number of European Union countries. Malta banned it in 2016. It has also been banned outright in Germany, France, Greece, Spain, Belgium, Cyprus and Portugal. The Dutch Senate has also recently voted to pass legislation to ban so-called conversion therapy. It is not banned here, however. It is still legal in Ireland. A landmark 2023 study by Trinity College Dublin confirmed that practices aimed at changing or suppressing sexual orientation or gender identity do occur in Ireland. That honestly surprised me. I thought that people's sexual orientation was just accepted in this country and that there were not issues with it. However, I have looked into this and it is still a major issue. Two successive programmes for Government have committed to a ban but it still has not happened. The then Minister, Deputy Roderic O'Gorman, announced research into a ban on conversion therapy in 2022 and reaffirmed the Government's commitment to legislating to ban the practice but it still has not happened. There is a gap there. It is something we need to fix. We need to bring in the legislation we promised we would.

As I said, I was surprised. I am aware that it is a big problem in the United States and even elsewhere on this island. I did not think it was something that happened in this jurisdiction but, as I said, there is academic research showing that it does. Such a ban is therefore far more than symbolic. It is a real, practical and forceful measure that would prevent the genuine harm that is done to people who are subjected to this so-called therapy. It would also make an important statement to members of the LGBT community in this country, particularly young people who might be struggling with their identity or with something that is new to them, that they are as accepted as anybody else in this society by this State, that we stand with them, that they cannot be "fixed" and that they are valuable exactly as they are. I hope the Minister of State will take on board the need to move on that particular subject with a view to moving things along.

The second issue I will mention is hate speech. There was hate speech legislation before the previous Dáil with a view to changing the law and updating the prohibition of incitement to hatred Act, which was so ineptly phrased that only 50-odd prosecutions have been taken under it. Again, you would like to think that in a modern Ireland, people who are LGBT or who present with a different gender identity would be safe from incitement to hatred and incitement to violence but they are not. Emily Bolger, who works in my office and who is incredibly valuable to us, tells me that she was abused on the street in town last night. Somebody across the street roared at her because of her sexual orientation. You would think that in 21st-century Ireland we would have moved beyond such absolutely craven nonsense but the reality is that it is still happening.

We had a Bill in these Houses that aimed to advance the prohibition of incitement to hatred and incitement to violence. That has fallen by the wayside. It shows a certain political cowardice on the part of these Houses that we cannot address this issue, which we know exists, and put in place measures that protect not just LGBT people but anybody from a set of vulnerable groups listed in the legislation. The fact that we cannot do that is a really poor reflection on the ability of this House to enforce laws that make a difference to people's quality of life. That is what it is really about. It is about the notion that members of the LGBT community or any other minority or vulnerable community would be entitled to enjoy their lives and have space to go about their business, their social lives and their work lives where they live with exactly the same entitlement to peaceable enjoyment as the Minister of State, myself or anybody else in the county has.

These two issues have been left on the table and we have not dealt with them.

The time has come to deal with them. Let us ban conversion therapies and get to grips with hate speech and actions which incite violence and hatred against people once and for all, so that everyone can feel safe and included.

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