Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Go raibh maith agat, a Chathaoirligh, and cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Fáilte roimh an Bille agus plé ar an Bille seo anocht. Mólam ait siud a lag é. I welcome the Minister of State and acknowledge those who have tabled this legislation. What tonight shows is how effective it is when Members adhere to proper, timely parliamentary processes and give themselves the space to debate, help and inform legislation of this and other kinds that come through this House. What I always find about the Seanad is that when the collective talent, ability and purpose of Members is harnessed, as in this instance, we can do great work but we must have the ability to acknowledge where there may be legislative weaknesses and have the space that allows us collectively, as Members, to try to help to better amend legislation as it moves forward.

Unfortunately, as has been well articulated, and some of it very acutely by colleagues here tonight, Ireland is no stranger to hate crimes. Hate crime is often motivated by power that can be institutional and personal. It taps into prejudice, inherited and learned. It can be obvious and crude, ignorant and uneducated. It can be invisible and subtle or sophisticated and educated. Senator Ward raised an important point about the issue of being uninformed and how that could, potentially, cause problems in the future with this legislation. As colleagues have already acknowledged, hate crime legislation is long overdue in this State. I have no doubt that the Minister of State will concede that in terms of his own remarks.

As some Members have already articulated, there are concerns. Indeed, the proposer, Senator O'Loughlin, acknowledged in her remarks that there are some concerns around the wording and precision of the contents of this Bill. Some of those concerns relate to the conflation between homophobia and transphobia. I acknowledge there are also concerns by some people in the trans community about what they see as outdated language that perhaps could be tweaked. As Senator Norris eloquently articulated, as always, there are concerns regarding the inclusion of the word "perceived" in the Bill. Senators Ward and Bacik also raised those concerns. I share those concerns and I hope that Senator O'Loughlin will reflect and take our concerns on board, as we move ahead.

Legislation such as this can and must be stronger. It must be informed and shaped by those most impacted. Many people have contacted us recently, which shows how important and crucial it is that when bringing in legislation, not least legislation as important and sensitive as this, we engage as broadly and extensively as possible.

In acknowledging the passage of this Bill tonight, it must be said with all due respect that this Bill and such legislation would have been much better, stronger and potentially much more effective had it have been a Government Bill from the Department and the Minister, that had been informed by the consultation that has been undertaken, as referenced by Senator Bacik in her remarks. There has to have been a purpose to the consultation. I hope that strong, robust, precise and effective legislation ultimately will be the purpose and will be informed by the important consultation on the existing Act because a lot of the relevant stakeholders and groups who have been in contact with us contributed to the consultation in the hope and understanding that this would be the trajectory the Government would follow, as laid out in the programme for Government, in bringing the kind of legislation before the Oireachtas that they want to see that will help tackle hate crime. I say that in no way to diminish or take away from Senator O'Loughlin's intention here tonight.

We have had a good and important debate. It is good that we have had the space here tonight to have such a debate. Given the rise in hate crimes in society, it is a debate that we need to have.While delivering legislation is the ultimate outcome for everyone, it is always positive, as Members of the Oireachtas and people involved in political life, to reassert our commitment to tackling hatred, prejudice and injustice when we have an opportunity to do so. Whether it is the Bill before us or the Bill the Government has committed to introducing, I hope the legislation we introduce will be as effective and robust as it can be in tackling hate crime in society. We cannot sit here in splendid isolation and say "Sin é, we have done enough" because the questions will then be, as rightly acknowledged in earlier contributions, how will the Garda implement and give effect to this legislation and how will those who are committed to hatred and intolerance be effectively dealt with in a way that stops hatred and intolerance and assists those who are most marginalised, the minorities in society, to live free from prejudice, intolerance and hatred.

I thank the proposer, Senator O'Loughlin, the Minister of State and the Cathaoirleach.