Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for the opportunity to address this motion. I want to begin by applauding all that she is doing. A panoply of legislation to deal with gender-based violence will in every way ensure a safer society because the fact is that she is absolutely right. It is almost incredible, unless one happens to be involved in or aware of a case and supporting a community, to realise that there are people who are afraid in their own homes and whose homes are consistently attacked because of their race or religion or because they are a member of a minority group

. It is important that we address hate crime. I welcome in advance the Bill that will come through later in the year. We need it at an EU level. I recognise the research from the European Commission which showed that 52% of young women and girls have experienced online violence, threats and sexual harassment, while people with disabilities are more at risk of being victims of violent crime, including hate crimes, than other persons. There are protected groups under our laws because they are targets and experience discrimination due to the fact they deal with particular biases and attitudes. To have a definition on an EU basis and a common approach across the European Union is incredibly valuable. It shows a desire and ethos in the EU to make sure that freedom of expression is balanced by the responsibilities that come with that.

People are entitled to hold their opinions, but they are not entitled to affect the quality of life of any other person. We need to ensure that, in terms of those who are vulnerable and susceptible to being influenced online or in groups, there are measures to arrest those who choose influence and target. Now more than ever we see how social media is used and deployed in a way that is propaganda based to undermine society and democracies. We can see that happening in real time at the moment in terms of false news. In the past 24 hours there has been an allegation of false news regarding a maternity hospital. All of these things can be targeted and deployed in a very sinister way. Having hate crime and hate speech defined across all European Union member states and sanctioned in the same way is absolutely correct, and I am very proud of the EU for moving to do that. I thank the Minister for all of her work on this.