Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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511. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the current status of the Criminal Justice (Hate Crime) Bill. [41405/20]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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My Department is working to prepare new legislation on hate crime and hate speech as a priority. This is in accordance with the commitment in the Programme for Government to introduce such legislation within the first twelve months.

As part of this work a comprehensive public consultation has been carried out which included an online survey and an opportunity for stakeholders to make formal submissions. This consultation was conducted to ensure that the Department fully understands the lived experience of those impacted by hate speech and hate crime as well as the views of professionals and other stakeholders in the field. This is necessary to ensure the laws developed are robust, clearly understood and effective.

I am pleased with the high level of engagement by the public with this important topic and can inform the Deputy that my Department received in the region of 3,800 written responses to the consultation, including more than 175 detailed written submissions.

In addition to this comprehensive consultation, my Department has also completed comparative research on international best practice on hate crime legislation.

I expect to publish the report on the public consultation, together with the comparative research on international approaches in the coming days.

This work will help to ensure that the legislative proposals presented are evidence-based, proportionate and effective, while respecting important rights to freedom of expression and association.

I intend to bring a General Scheme of new legislation to Government for approval early in 2021. There will be a further opportunity for stakeholders to share their views as part of the pre-legislative scrutiny process.