Marie Sherlock (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I join Senator Flynn in calling for us to press on with this legislation at this stage. Many hours have been dedicated to this Bill. There have been issues, particularly with regard to definitions, but ultimately we in the Labour Party are supportive of the Bill and what it is trying to do, particularly when we see a rise in the number of reports of attacks driven by racism, homophobia and transphobia. To us, this Bill is all the more necessary now. It is with some disappointment we see the Minister deleting the update, effectively, to the 1989 Act. It is regrettable she is shying away from that. I think she is being overly cautious. We believe an upgrade is required to that Act.

There is a fundamental challenge in the Bill as it will be amended by Government amendments. We will have two different definitions of "protected characteristics". Under the 1989 Act there are seven protected characteristics, while under this Bill there are ten. It is not entirely clear, if the 1989 Act is not repealed, whether the ten or the seven protected characteristics apply to the incitement to hatred laws. We firmly believe the list of ten protected characteristics that applies to Part 3 of the Bill must also apply to the incitement to hatred laws.

We have received much correspondence in recent days urging us to vote down this Bill. People have raised their concerns that this is an attempt to silence or to ram one set of views about gender down the throat of others. I could not disagree more with many of the comments we have received. I find it sad that people feel so threatened by people saying there is something other than biological male and female. Any of us with life experience in this House should recognise that while our world is still built around the binary male-female order of things, there are a small but real number of people who believe they are born in the wrong body and do not fit into the male-female definition. We need to listen to and respect them, ensure health and other social supports are there and show empathy.

The critical thing is the Bill does not create any new legal status. It is not about creating a new list of genders. It is about ensuring if somebody wants to project their hate or distaste onto another person just because of what or who they are, and does so with the use of physical or verbal violence, that is not acceptable and should be met with the force of the law. That is why the Bill is really important.

We cannot deny the increase in appalling attacks, particularly in the past 12 months. I am thinking particularly of one young man I know, Patrick, who, in broad daylight on a Saturday afternoon outside a Luas stop, was beaten up just because of how he dressed and how he presented to the world. That is not the kind of Ireland I want my kids or anybody else's to grow up in.

Our amendment to standardise or provide clarity on the list of protected characteristics was unfortunately ruled out of order because the Minister is amending the Bill to delete section 4. We believe clarity is now required as to whether the list of ten protected characteristics will apply to the 1989 legislation.