Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is very welcome back and I wish continued good health to her and her family. As she knows, I previously introduced hate crime legislation in 2016 in the Dáil and in the Seanad in 2020. That Bill dealt with the area of hate crime but not hate speech. The reason I introduced that Bill at the time, and why my party supported it, is because it is a sad reality that hate crime is a real and lasting problem in Ireland today.

Over recent years, Ireland as a country has become far more diverse and inclusive. This diversity should of course be seen as a strength. We should all encourage and expand on it. However, sadly, not everybody has welcomed those changes. In fact, some see this strength as a threat and they are willing to engage in violence to continue exclusion. It is simply unacceptable that anyone in modern Ireland should be the victim of a crime because of their colour, ethnicity, asylum status, religion, disability or sexual identity. It is quite clear that the current legislation on hate crime is no longer fit for purpose and it needs to be modernised. I am pleased that we are having this very robust debate here this evening, which shows that we in both Houses and across parties all recognise that this is an area for which we need legislation. However, we of course, need robust legislation that is fit for purpose.

Ireland is basically the only country in the western world that does not have hate crime legislation at the moment. Hate crimes increased by 29% in 2022 according to the Garda. There is no doubt but that legislation alone will not tackle the scourge of extreme views or hate that are out there. It needs to be part of a wider response with education and with societal change. We must make clear that hate crimes against people on account of their inherent identity will not be tolerated in Ireland. We need to send a strong message to perpetrators of such crimes.

This Bill represents an important step forward in the pursuit of equality and justice for all our citizens. We have to be committed to fighting discrimination in all its forms and must try to tackle hate crimes in an effective and robust manner. Senator McDowell mentioned the UN rapporteur on the elimination of discrimination in Ireland. The rapporteur also stated that hate crime legislation needed to be introduced as soon as possible to address the escalation in racially motivated crimes and to help build a safer society. We all recognise the reality that hate crime is a real and lasting problem and that our legislation is sadly lacking. If the harm of hate is to be acknowledged and countered, it falls on us as legislators to act and to provide a legislative framework against the violence of hate and to explicitly name bias crime. We must join other nations in ensuring that the violence of hate experienced by vulnerable individuals and communities is challenged head-on.

We are all too aware of what these crimes look like. I spoke before in this House about a number of people of whom we saw very public humiliations because of their identities. We think of people like Shelly Xiong, who was pushed into the Royal Canal because of her race and of Seán Munnelly, a 15-year-old boy, who was attacked in Eamonn Ceannt Park because of the colour of his skin. A young gay couple, Anthony and Gearóid, were attacked and stabbed in Newbridge, because of their sexuality. This was only 100 yd from my own home. We have seen arson attacks on direct provision centres and refugee accommodation areas. We have seen mosques being vandalised. Those are only a few examples of some of the events that have taken place in the recent past. I know all of us will be aware of other cases. In many cases, the victims felt that they could not speak out because they did not want to be further humiliated and, understandably in many ways, they wanted to protect their own privacy.

In a society that does expound principles of inclusivity and diversity and in a society that was founded on the ideals that all people should be cherished equally, these experiences are simply unacceptable. It is the responsibility of all of us to send a clear message to society that this behaviour will not be tolerated. The human rights of those who are living in Ireland are violated daily in a manner which is deeply damaging, not just to individuals, but to society. In the absence of an adequate criminal justice response to hate crime offenders, victims continue to pay for these crimes. Research has provided convincing evidence that victims of hate crimes suffer more severely than victims of equivalent crimes that are not associated with targeted hostility. Those who have experienced hate offences report a wider range of negative psychological impacts, which also last for longer than those exhibited by victims of non-hate-related parallel offences.

These are many of the reasons I say we must have hate crime legislation. It was pretty much front and centre of the justice brief within the programme for Government. I totally agree with and support that. However, I do have some concerns, particularly around the area of hate speech. Many of those concerns have been articulated far better than I have done by my colleagues, Senators Chambers, O'Donovan and McDowell.

The terms "hate" and "hatred" need to be defined to make this a more robust Bill, because that is what is needed. We need something that will stand up to huge scrutiny afterwards. Like many of my colleagues who are present, I have received numerous emails in relation to this. I felt some emails were generated by people who may have had other views and other reasons for not wanting to have hate crime legislation. However, there were a number of people who were in contact with me whose bona fides I totally trust. Many of these people are progressive and I see many of them as liberal in their views. They expressed many of these same concerns. I share the belief that we will need strong amendments when we come to Committee Stage. I will support my colleagues in Fianna Fáil who will be tabling those amendments.

At the end of the day, victims are looking for change and we have to show them that change through our actions, and not through our words.Every person has an equal right to be protected by the criminal justice system. Stopping hate crime and bringing perpetrators to justice must be a priority. They are the people we have to think about. They are the people that we have to respect. My primary concern, which is also that of Fianna Fáil, is that we get hate crime legislation on the Statute Book. It is vital that we send a clear message that crimes motivated by prejudice and hatred will not be tolerated. We cannot limit those responses to the justice system alone; we have to work at all levels of society to challenge widespread discrimination and prejudice and ensure that all people are treated as full and equal citizens.

I hope that the Minister is taking all of the comments that we are making in a positive manner. We want to work together to ensure that this Bill is robust, and that it sets out to do what I know the Minister wants it to do. It is important that the Bill is robust and that it is set out in such a way as to be able to stand up to the deserved scrutiny it will receive. Therefore, I hope that the Minister takes all of these points in the collaborative manner in which they are meant.