Eileen Flynn (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State for taking the time to deal with this Commencement matter this morning. I was very disappointed to learn the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, has decided to drop the incitement, or hate speech, sections of the Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022. We can all agree that our legislation is not fit for purpose and we are seeing a dangerous and disturbing rise in intolerance, intimidation and violence against minority communities. The Garda reported a 12% increase in the number of hate crime and hate-related incidents between 2022 and 2023. It seems that now is the time to put robust hate crime legislation in place. This means amending the legislation where amendments are needed and not scrapping the hate speech section of the Bill.

There has been time to bring forward amendments, yet progress on the Bill has been stalled. The Coalition Against Hate Crime has also expressed its disappointment that, after years of hard work, the Minister has decided not to bring hate speech legislation forward. The coalition is made up of 23 civil engagement groups representing the people who are most likely to be targeted by hatred. The coalition calls on the Government to move quickly to ensure this long overdue legislation is debated and passed urgently and to resist any attempt to weaken the protections.

When I look for consultation and consensus on hate crime legislation, I look at the people who are most affected by hate crime legislation. These are the brave people who are people of colour, Traveller people, disabled people and LGBTQI+ people who get up every morning, now more than ever, in this country and go about their daily lives with no protections in place. They are the people I am looking to for consensus. They are the people I think the Minister for Justice should look to for consensus. No disrespect to any politician in any House, but she should not look to the white upper-class politicians who are not impacted by incitement to hatred, racism, discrimination or being attacked on the street just because of their identity. I am well aware there have been numerous attacks on politicians in the past year. Of course, I am totally against this. I am speaking about hate crime and people being attacked because of their identity.

The hate speech part of the legislation is very important. What are the Minister's thoughts on consensus? I understand it is coming from politicians but Dr. Ebun Joseph said that leaving out hate speech from the legislation sends out a message that words that harm and divide are not taken seriously.I can tell the Minister of State, as I said earlier, that people from the Traveller community, people of colour and disabled people take these words extremely seriously. As she knows, verbal abuse can lead to physical abuse. I will not go into the nuts and bolts of it. When we talk about consensus, we cannot wait for good, robust hate crime legislation. We have seen it in the streets every single day in the past year or year and a half with the rise of the far right. We must protect everybody. I understand it is about the violence of hate or attacking somebody but hate speech is equally important.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Senator for raising this matter. I am responding on behalf of the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee. Ireland is, in general, a diverse and welcoming country but there are people living here who live in fear simply because of who they are - their identity. The Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill had been due to repeal and replace the hate speech provisions in the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989 and legislate for hate crimes for the first time by creating new, aggravated forms of certain existing criminal offences, where those offences are motivated by prejudice against a protected characteristic. As the Senator will be aware, the Minister will propose a series of Committee Stage amendments in the Seanad to remove the parts of the Bill that deal with incitement to violence or hatred and proceed only with the elements that deal with hate crime. The Minister is removing the incitement to violence or hatred elements on which there is a lack of consensus in the Houses so that the Bill can progress with the hate crime elements. Drafting of amendments will be undertaken by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel. Under the revised proposal, the Bill will still provide for increased prison sentences for certain crimes where proven to be motivated by the hatred or where hatred is demonstrated. For example, the legislation will ensure that assault or damage to property aggravated by hatred will attract higher prison sentences. Where hatred is not proven, a person can still be charged with assault or damage to property. The most recent statistics from An Garda Síochána show that reported hate crimes increased last year by 7.5% to 548 incidents, with the most prevalent discriminatory motive being race 36%, followed by anti-nationality 18%. In 2022, reported hate crimes increased by 29% over the previous year. These figures show legislation for hate crime is needed.

It is unacceptable that people are targeted and live in fear simply because of who they are. When this happens, it has a more detrimental impact on the person than on victims of non-hate-motivated crimes. We want to tell victims we are determined to stamp out hate-motivated crimes and that, as a nation, we are determined to protect vulnerable communities. The 1989 Act will remain in force and incitement to hatred will not be dealt with in the amended Bill. While there was strong consensus in the Dáil on incitement to violence or hatred provisions, including proposals from the Opposition to expand these further, that was lost. The Minister said previously that some degree of consensus is needed and the justice committee could usefully look at this issue again. The Minister intends to bring the amended Bill through the Houses in due course.

Eileen Flynn (Independent)
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The Minister sat in that seat back when we discussed the Bill in 2023. Her words were, "You can still be offensive". Along with the amendments in the Bill as it stands now, without the Minister scrapping the incitement of hate speech, it was still okay to be offensive. People could still be racist or offensive but targeting and calling somebody names, running after them on the street or what we see on social media is hate speech. It is disappointing for me and for the Coalition Against Hate Crime to see a complete U-turn by the Government all out of fear of the far right. If we want to protect people, politicians and our streets, we need hate crime legislation that works for everybody. The Minister sat there and told us in this House that the 1989 hate crime legislation was not fit for purpose and that this legislation, which she put in front of us in 2023, was more up to date and fit today's society. It is regrettable for people from communities like mine, people of colour and disabled people, who are still verbally attacked on our streets today. I know it is not the Minister of State's fault. I thank her for coming in today. An answer is better than not having one. It is something we can work on.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I appreciate the Senator's interest and contribution. The Minister for Justice wants to be clear; Ireland must update its incitement to hatred legislation. If this requires further discussion and debate to reach consensus on how we do this effectively, she is prepared to examine the issues with a view to finding a way forward. While that is happening, we cannot ignore the fact that we need hate crime laws. Ireland is one of the last countries in the EU to legislate for hate crimes. The most recent figures from An Garda Síochána confirm the need for legislation. All-Ireland research by the University of Limerick and Queen's University published in December last year found that more than two thirds of those surveyed were in favour of hate crime legislation. The Minister will bring the Bill back to the Seanad in due course. She will work with her colleagues across both Houses to legislate for hate crimes and to bring much-needed protection to vulnerable communities, as the Senator clearly outlined. That said, the Minister is on the record saying our current incitement of hatred legislation is not strong enough and this is a matter that will need to be revisited. There are quite entrenched views in this area. She is not naive enough to think that there will full consensus but some consensus is required. There is work to be done before we can progress these elements.