Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the House for facilitating the taking of his motion today. On Tuesday, the Government approved my request to seek the approval of the Houses of the Oireachtas to opt in to this EU Commission proposal. The proposal seeks to extend the list of EU crimes under Article 83 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, TFEU, to include hate crime and hate speech by way of Council decision. We discussed and approved the proposal in the Dáil yesterday and I am delighted to have the opportunity to present this motion to the Seanad today. To reiterate the points I made yesterday in the Dáil, hate crime is corrosive of the social solidarity and mutual understanding we need between groups in this increasingly diverse island. The Government has no hesitation in commending the motion that we opt in.

Article 83(1) of the TFEU lays down an exhaustive list of areas of crime or EU crimes where the European Parliament and the Council may establish minimum rules concerning the definition of criminal offences and sanctions applicable in all EU member states. There are a number of areas of crime currently listed. Trafficking in human beings, illicit drug trafficking and organised crime are three such examples. Article 83 also provides that, based on developments in crime, the Council may adopt a decision identifying other areas of particularly serious crime that have a cross-border nature, resulting from the nature or impact of such offences, or from a special need to combat them on a common basis. That is what the Commission is seeking to do with this proposal. In order to develop a common approach to hate crime and hate speech at EU Level, adoption of a Council decision to extend the list would be a first step to creating the necessary legal basis.

At European level, unfortunately, hate speech and hate crime are widespread across the Union and have been increasing over recent years. In particular, the Covid-19 pandemic has heightened the feelings of insecurity, isolation and fear. This has created an atmosphere in which hate speech has flourished, while being also used to target already marginalised populations, also resulting in hate crimes. As Members know, Ireland does not currently have any specific legislation to deal with hate crime. The only legislation in Ireland that deals with hate-based offences is the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989.

The general scheme of the criminal justice (hate crime) Bill 2021 was published in April 2021.This proposed new legislation will create specific, hate-aggravated forms of existing offences that can be investigated, prosecuted and recorded as hate crimes. The proposed Bill will also provide for new offences of incitement to hatred, which should prohibit deliberately or recklessly inciting hatred against a person or group of people due to their association with a protected characteristic or displaying or distributing material inciting hatred. This will also have relevance to online hate speech.

Following its publication, the general scheme was referred to the Joint Committee on Justice for pre-legislative scrutiny. This took place in November and the report is awaited. The general scheme has also been referred to the Office of Parliamentary Counsel for drafting. I intend to publish the new hate crime Bill in the summer, subject to the committee's report of its deliberations.

We have traditionally been very cautious about regulating hate speech. This is because any restrictions on speech are very serious. I am very committed to ensuring that the legislation we introduce domestically is completely in harmony with the very important right to freedom of expression, which we all have a right to enjoy. When we think of hate speech and our own freedoms, however, we should remember that there is nothing noble or free about hate speech; instead, there are people who have been the victims of a crime and an attempt to sow hatred in our society. The Office of the Attorney General has advised that opting in to the proposed decision does not create any constitutional or legal issues for the State.

Any directives proposed as a result of the expansion of Article 83 to include hate crime and hate speech will be carefully examined in detail. However, the State by opting in now will be part of those detailed discussions in Brussels and we will have an opportunity to consider whether we should be included in any such new proposed directive as Protocol 21 will apply also.

There are people in this country who live in fear. They are afraid to leave their houses, get public transport and live their lives. That might seem extreme or like I am exaggerating, but before we published the hate crime legislation we did extensive consultation and engaged with Departments, State agencies and An Garda Síochána, NGOs and community groups, along with asking individuals to come forward and tell their stories. There are people living in this country who are afraid to go about their daily lives and we need to respond to that not just as a national level but also through this legislation.

We have seen how this has taken a severe direction across the EU. More recently, a man was radicalised online, at home in his room on his computer, to the extent that he went out and beheaded a teacher because of hate language and speech and radicalisation that happened online. We need to be very quick and responsive in what we do here nationally and make sure that we work collectively together to combat hate speech which inevitably leads to these type of hate crimes.

I commend the motion to the House.