Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the Minister to the House. Four weeks ago, the Houses of the Oireachtas took a progressive step in dealing with the sometimes shameful legacy of the State's treatment of the LGBTQI community by the passage in the Dáil of a motion apologising to those criminalised for homosexual activity. Similar legacy issues arise in respect of our Traveller and migrant communities and religious minorities. A shared future and creating an equal setting for all should always be core tenets of a process of reconciliation. In creating that equal setting, we must strive to eliminate the remnants of sometimes shameful legacies involving racism, ableism, sectarianism, bigotry, homophobia, biphobia or transphobia. In furtherance of that goal, every western European jurisdiction, with the exception of this State, has implemented robust hate crime legislation.

The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, ILGA, recently released its European rainbow map, an annual benchmarking tool which ranks 49 countries in Europe on their LGBTI equality laws and policies. Although many may consider Ireland a global leader in that regard, as it often is, the State was ranked 15th by the study.I noted in the ILGA's report that the basis for Ireland's slippage in the rankings was its observation that hate crime legislation to protect LGBTQI people continued to be conspicuous by its absence from Ireland's Statute Book; not only that, it is much broader than my community. It means that, in reality, we have no way of bringing specified charges against individuals who specifically target minorities on the basis of racism, homophobia, ableism or other bigoted biases. As a result, we have no data for such incidents, which means that we have no competence in knowing how widespread these issues are. We might get a shock, although I hope not, when we do start to collate such data.

I am aware that the Irish Council for Civil Liberties released a report last week. I think the Minister is conducting a review of the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989, which is a welcome step, albeit long overdue. Perhaps the Minister of State might indicate the stage the review is at, when the report on it will be released and, ultimately, when he foresees robust legislation being brought to this House.

Again, I refer back to my community. In advance of Pride, a brick was thrown through the window of Pantibar on Capel Street and a couple were attacked in Portlaoise. It created a cloud over Dublin Pride. There are tragedies within these stories. If there were protections in place such as hate crime legislation, with the accompanying statistics, we could do a lot more to prevent them.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for raising this important issue. I am proud to see Ireland becoming a more diverse and open society which is a sign of our place in the world. The Senator made reference to other jurisdictions, but we have much to be proud of in this country. We had the marriage equality referendum. I am not aware of any party or individual in these Houses that uses migration as a political issue. Other countries in which there is hate crime legislation in place have major problems, but we do not. I hear what the Senator is saying about what would happen if we were to start digging, but on the face of it, we have a lot of which to be proud. However, we must be mindful to ensure Ireland is a safe and secure country for everybody where all forms of hatred are rejected emphatically. There is no place in our society for hate crimes and I can assure the House of my commitment and that of the Minister and the Government to ensuring they will be dealt with robustly through the criminal law.

As the Senator will be aware, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and the University of Limerick have carried out some extremely valuable research into the prevalence and nature of hate crime in this country. Officials of my Department will study their recommendations, with a view to bringing forward concrete proposals. The Minister made this announcement on the release of the report. There is a wide body of existing criminal law which is used to combat hate crimes. Where criminal offences such as assault or criminal damage or public order offences are committed with a racist motive, they are prosecuted through the wider criminal law. The trial judge can take aggravated factors, including racist motivation, into account in sentencing. The Judicial Council Bill will include provisions on sentencing guidelines and sentencing for hate crimes may be considered in that context.

The Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989 creates offences of incitement to hatred. "Hatred" is defined as "hatred against a group of persons in the State or elsewhere on account of their race, colour, nationality, religion, ethnic or national origins, membership of the travelling community or sexual orientation". Under the provisions of the Act, it is an offence to use words, behave, publish or distribute written material or broadcast any visual image or sound which is threatening, abusive or insulting and intended or likely to stir up hatred. The offences under the Act carry penalties of up to two years imprisonment or a fine of up to €25,400.

An Garda Síochána has put in place a number of measures dedicated to combating hate crimes. The Garda Racial Intercultural and Diversity Office, GRIDO, has responsibility for co-ordinating, monitoring and advising on all aspects of policing Ireland's diverse communities. It is headed up by a very dedicated sergeant who is backed up by an assistant commissioner and they take their work very seriously. The GRIDO monitors the reporting and recording of hate and racist crime on a continual basis. Equality and the protection of minorities form important components of the work of my Department. The Minister and I are fully committed to ensuring the proper protections are in place.

Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein)
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I appreciate what the Minister of State said. I do not have figures to hand for other communities such as the Traveller community or other minorities, but in my case, despite marriage equality, we see this week that one in three LGBT couples will still not hold hands on the street. I have crossed the road with my boyfriend on many occasions - mainly at night - when we had a particular concern about what might be up ahead. Perhaps it is just in our minds, but homophobia is rife, despite legislative change. I suspect, therefore, that it is apparent for other groups in society. It is welcome that the Judicial Council Bill will include provisions on sentencing guidelines. I encourage the consideration of hate crimes in that context, but we need a specific hate crime Bill. The Fianna Fáil Bill that is in the system is not good enough. Sinn Féin and I will happily bring forward the Irish Council for Civil Liberties' hate crime Bill, as we have done previously, but we really need the resources of the State behind it. Rather than giving people hope in introducing that Bill, I would like to see the Department introduce such legislation.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I have seen same-sex couples holding hands on the streets of Dublin in the evening time and think it is great that we live in a country where that can happen, but I have listened to what the Senator has had to say. Minority migrant groups can be particularly vulnerable to racism and hate crimes. The Government has developed a range of provisions to support these communities. I am sure the Senator is aware of the migrant integration strategy which includes measures to raise awareness of integration, immigration and racism. The Office for the Promotion of Migrant Integration is a focal point of the Government's commitment to anti-racism measures as a key aspect of integration, diversity management and broader national social policy. It provides funding for a number of local authorities and community and voluntary organisations to support local programmes to educate the public on issues such as immigration, integration and anti-racism. This awareness work dovetails with the role of An Garda Síochána's ethnic liaison officers who work with minority communities at local level to encourage tolerance, respect and understanding within communities and help to prevent hate crime. Ireland is in no way tolerant of hatred in any form. Targeting people simply because of their identity and difference is not acceptable. My Department is strongly committed to the prevention and prosecution of these crimes.

I know that the Senator asked about the review. I will communicate with him on it as I do not have an up-to-date note on it. It is very important that such activities or crimes be reported to the Garda ethnic liaison officers or the local Garda station. There have been changes and improvements to the PULSE system such that there is now mandatory recording of data for the apparent motive behind a crime incident such as whether it was motivated by discrimination on specific grounds such as age, disability, race, religion, gender or sexual orientation. The policing plan 2018 contains commitments that An Garda Síochána will produce a definition of and procedures to record hate crime.

I again thank the Senator for raising this very important matter and affording me the opportunity to address it.

Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)
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Unfortunately, under the rules, I cannot allow the Senator back in, but I am sure he and the Minister of State can have a chat about the issue on the margins.

Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein)
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May I express my concern? The Minister of State says something should be reported, but there is more to it than that. That requires somebody to be out of the closet and have confidence in the police force.

Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)
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Further contributions are unfortunately not permitted. The Senator can raise the matter on the Order of Business or find another method of communicating with the Minister of State.