Marie Sherlock (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the Chamber. The Labour Party welcomes the motion that the Government intends to work with EU institutions to define and combat hate crime and hate speech. It is important to acknowledge the work of Senator O'Loughlin and her colleagues in proposing a Bill in 2020. The Labour Party had similar measures in our 2020 manifesto and we are conscious it is a programme for Government commitment.

The Minister stated the criminal justice (hate crime) Bill is to be published by the summer. That is welcome but it is slightly alarming that it takes an EU-wide initiative by President von der Leyen to bring us up to speed in an area in which we have lagged behind for some time. The UN rapporteur on the elimination of discrimination has been sharply critical of Ireland's foot-dragging with regard to the absence of hate crime legislation. Following on from what Senator Ó Donnghaile said, we look forward to the detail and to the point when our legislation complements what is emerging from the European Union, as opposed to forming the basis for an impression that the only ideas are coming from the European Union at this time.

We understand that legislating for hate crime and hate speech is complex but the need to protect victims of these appalling crimes must override other concerns. We can express our concern about people being victimised because of the colour of their skin, their ethnic origin, their identity or any other factor. That is appalling but, unless we do something about it, we are not doing enough. I am struck that the gardaí are ahead of our legislation in that they have implemented their own working definition of "hate crime". In 2019, a staggering 250 crimes were deemed to be motivated by hate.

I pay tribute to the work of certain organisations which have campaigned for this for many years. The Irish Council of civil Liberties and the Irish Network Against Racism have been leading voices calling for Ireland to have hate crime and hate speech legislation. Academics in the University of Limerick produced the report A Life Free from Fear - Legislating for Hate Crime in Ireland, which has been important in educating us on what needs to be put in place.

We support the motion, look forward to the Bill this summer and would like to see the detail as soon as possible. For the victims the Minister spoke so eloquently about, we need to see this legislation in place as soon as possible.