Eileen Flynn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

This afternoon I want to call again for strong hate crime legislation. Unfortunately, due to the volume of emails received over the summer and in the last few months about its hate crime legislation, the Government has paused it, ignoring the fact that many NGOs and people from minority groups, including the Irish Traveller Movement and Migrant Rights Centre Ireland, have been fighting for years for strong hate crime legislation to be passed. We were more than half way there, with the Bill due to be debated on Committee Stage in this House. I am very fearful that because it is unpopular with far right organisations and individuals, it will not be progressed and I am very worried for minority groups in this country. The Government should at least give us a date. Indeed, Fianna Fáil should give us a date because I understand its Members have been tabling amendments to the Bill. We need to have a set date for moving the Bill forward in this House. I understand that it may not be important to many Members of this House, but for me as a member of the Traveller community, it is crucial. Before I was ever a Member of this House, I did an enormous amount of work on getting hate crime legislation introduced in this country. We are talking about keeping up as a society. We have a hate crime Bill and all we want to do is to keep up as a society, just as we are doing on 8 March with the referendums. Let us keep moving forward with this legislation. All I am looking for from the Minister is a date so that we know the end is in sight and know that we will have good, strong legislation in place. It will not stop people from being nasty and calling people from minority groups names and so on. People will still have the right to be offensive but the legislation will make them think twice. Most importantly, it will make minority groups, including people of colour and people with disabilities, feel more protected in this country.