Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ach an oiread le mo chomhghleacaithe, ba mhaith liom mo chomhbhrón a chur in iúl do mhuintir Bolger ó Phort Láirge as ucht an tragóid uafásach a tharla ansin. Tá sé an-deacair duine amháin a chailleadh agus a shamhlú go gcailleofá duine leis an bhfarraige, ach cailleadh triúr deartháir ar an lá céanna. Is uafásach tubaisteach é sin do chuile duine sa chlann sin, dá gcáirde agus dá gcomhghleacaithe agus déanaim comhbhrón leo ar fad.

I am quite concerned by some representations I have received lately about racist comments on social networks. In addition, a television programme broadcast last night showed that racist attacks appear to be increasing, in both frequency and vehemence. This is something that we should not tolerate in this State. The policing of racism on the Internet is a much more complicated issue than it was in the past. The people who have contacted me, for example, regarding racist comments about their neighbours on a particular social networking site were told by the site's operators that the comments would not be taken down, even though they were very serious. The matter has now been passed on to the Garda.

We should debate the issue of racism and how we deal with in this State with the Minister for Justice and Equality. We need to discuss how prevalent racist incidents have become and how this is affecting people. Racism is something that none of us should tolerate and we must keep it on the agenda. In that context, I would be grateful if the Leader would organise a debate on racism, racist attacks and how they can be dealt with, from a legal perspective. I would also include the question of how to deal with racist commentary in any of today's media.