Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I welcome Deputy Richmond, who wishes to discuss the status of hate crime legislation as committed to in the programme for Government, and the Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Equality, Deputy James Browne, who is having his first outing as Minister of State.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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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.

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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On behalf of the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy McEntee, I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I know it is one that concerns him deeply.

The mission of the Department of Justice and Equality is the delivery of a safe, fair and inclusive Ireland. The Minister is fully committed to the fight against racism and prejudice and to a fairer, safer Ireland for everyone who lives here. The programme for Government commits to introducing legislation within 12 months to address those who target victims because of their association with a particular identity characteristic and to revise and update the Incitement to Hatred Act 1989. The Department is already working as a priority to develop this new legislation, which will deal with both incitement to hatred and hate crime. The Minister hopes to bring forward and publish legislative proposals by the end of this year or at the latest by early 2021.

A public consultation was completed in January of this year on the issues involved. The Department received over 3,800 written responses, including around 175 detailed written submissions, which were welcome. This information will help to ensure the laws proposed are robust and effective within an Irish context. The Department has also completed comparative research on different approaches to hate crime legislation in other jurisdictions. Reports on the public consultation and the research will be published in the near future.

There is existing law in this area. The Incitement to Hatred Act 1989 prohibits certain forms of threatening, abusive or insulting conduct. In addition, in sentencing for criminal offences, a hate motive may be considered by the court to be an aggravating factor resulting in a stronger penalty. However, this has clearly not been sufficient to respond to crimes where a victim is targeted because of the perpetrator's hatred of a particular identity characteristic, such as religion, sexual orientation or ethnicity, for example.

Legislation alone is not sufficient to address the problems of hatred and bigotry. A key action in the fight against racism in Ireland has been the formation of the anti-racism committee. The committee, chaired by Professor Caroline Fennell of University College Cork, UCC, is tasked with reviewing current evidence and practice and making recommendations to the Government on how best to strengthen its approach to tackling racism in all its forms. The committee held its first meeting in June and met again at the end of August. It will provide an interim report by the end of November and I am sure we all look forward to seeing the results of its work in due course. With these and a range of other actions, concrete steps are being taken to tackle what are serious and long-standing concerns. I know the Minister hopes she can count on the Deputy's input and support when she brings forward legislative proposals on this important issue.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his full reply and I welcome his remarks, especially on the work that has been done, not just by the Minister, Deputy McEntee, but also by the former Minister, Deputy Flanagan. However, I would like to push for a more firm timeline. It is ambitious to say that proposals will hopefully be published by the end of the year or in early 2021. We have a commitment that it needs to be done within 12 months but work on this issue has been ongoing for so long that perhaps we can expect faster and more substantial progress.

I do not raise this issue because of what all of use have no doubt suffered through our work but because I genuinely have a serious fear about the level of uncivil discourse creeping into public debate. Before expressing a view, people must often consider first whether they are prepared to voice an opinion that not everyone agrees with because of the abuse they and members of their family will receive. Is this inhibiting people from entering politics? I thought the era of nasty politics had gone from Ireland. The best thing we can say about this Parliament is that we can strongly disagree in this Chamber and in the committee rooms but we can all be agreeable outside, have a cup of tea together, meet supporters at election time and have the craic outside the gates of the church or whatever it may be. I fear that if we look at the next debate that the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Coveney, is going to take, we can see the impact that nasty politics can have in honourable and respected countries such as that of our dear neighbour, the United Kingdom. We do not want to go down the pathway where worrying commentary is used in political campaigns, and scaremongering posters and blatant abuse of office become the norm. That is the huge fear I have for this country and I hope that, through the legislation that is promised, the Minister of State and the Minister can play their part in making sure we are as immune to that as possible.

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy again for raising this important and serious matter. On behalf of the Minister, I am pleased to hear support being expressed for the proposed new legislation. I understand the Deputy's desire to see the matter progressed as quickly as possible and I assure him that the Minister and I share his determination to get this legislation passed as quickly as possible and to ensure it is effective and addresses the key issues he has raised.

Ireland has become a more diverse and welcoming country in recent decades. Together with the Minister, I strongly condemn the actions of the small minority who subject others to abuse or attack, arising from personal prejudice. The priority work of the Department to legislate for hate crime and hate speech will make a real contribution to ensuring Ireland is a safe and secure place for all. There will be a further opportunity for experts, communities and the public to share views when these proposals are published. I know the Minister looks forward to further engagement with the Deputy and all other stakeholders as she moves this important work forward as quickly and effectively as possible.