Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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253. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the status of plans to legislate for a hate crime to be considered as an aggravating factor in the sentencing of crimes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47897/18]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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The Government is committed to ensuring that Ireland is a safe and secure place for all those who live and visit here, regardless of who they are, and there is a wide body of criminal law which is used to combat crimes motivated by hatred.

The Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989 creates offences of incitement to hatred on account of race, religion, nationality, ethnicity 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 images or sounds in a manner which is threatening, abusive or insulting and is intended, or is likely, to stir up 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.” The provisions of the 1989 Act are currently under review within my Department.

Where criminal offences such as assault, criminal damage, or public order offences are committed with a hate motivation, they are prosecuted as generic offences through the wider criminal law.  Where a person is convicted of an offence and there is evidence that there may have been a hate motivation, the prosecution can bring that to the attention of the court along with any available evidence relevant to the circumstances in which the offence was committed which is likely to assist the court in determining the appropriate sentence. The trial judge can then take aggravating factors, including hate motivation, into account at sentencing.