Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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1309. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the steps that she is taking in relation to homophobic assaults and violence. [21079/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I strongly condemn the actions of the small minority who subject others to abuse or attack resulting from their own prejudice.  

We live in a diverse and welcoming country and our law and values should reflect this. Work is ongoing as a priority to legislate for hate crime and hate speech, to ensure that Ireland is a safe and secure place for all.

A hate crime occurs where an offence is committed (for example assault or criminal damage), but where the victim is targeted because of their association, in the mind of the perpetrator, with a particular identity characteristic, e.g. sexual orientation or ethnicity.

Hate crimes are signal crimes. They tell the victim that they are not safe simply because of who they are. They send the disgusting message to victims that they, and people like them, are somehow lesser than the rest of us which is unacceptable.

These crimes are motivated by prejudice. They make victims feel afraid for their future, their friends and their families. They lead to a divided society, where whole communities can feel unsafe and angry. It’s important that we recognize the true harm of these crimes and ensure that our legislative framework can tackle them.

On 16 April 2021 I published the General Scheme of the Criminal Justice (Hate Crime) Bill 2021. Following its publication, the General Scheme was referred to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice for pre-legislative scrutiny, which took place on 17 November 2021.

I recently published Justice Plan 2022 and in it I have committed to advancing this work and to publishing the Hate Crime Bill in quarter 2 of this year.

The Bill will create new, aggravated forms of certain existing criminal offences, where those offences are motivated by prejudice against a protected characteristic. The aggravated offences will generally carry an enhanced penalty, compared to the ordinary offence, and the record of any conviction for such an offence would clearly state that the offence was a hate crime.

It may also interest the Deputy to know that Ireland’s first National LGBTI+ Inclusion Strategy 2019-2022 was published on 28 November 2019 and complements the National LGBTI Youth Strategy published in June 2018.

The Inclusion strategy was developed in partnership with the LGBTI+ Community through a number of consultations and workshops across the country. A Strategy Committee is in place to oversee implementation of the Inclusion Strategy. This Committee is chaired by Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O’Gorman, T.D.

The strategy contains a number of actions by An Garda Síochána to deepen the LGBTI+ awareness among frontline officers and increase the capacity of An Garda Síochána to respond to the needs of victims of hate crime and to have an improved understanding of the LGBTI+ community in general.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that as part of An Garda Síochána’s ongoing national response to Hate Crime, the Garda National Diversity and Integration Unit (GNDIU) provide assurance to members of the public in relation to reports of hate-based occurrences. This includes daily monitoring of all recorded Hate Crimes / Incidents on PULSE and Social Media, advising investigating members, supporting investigations and providing assurance to victims and their communities.

I am advised that in response to recent alleged homophobic incidents, the Garda National Diversity and Integration Unit have provided direct on the ground support to investigators and to the LGBT+ community

A new, non-emergency Online Hate Crime reporting mechanism was launched in July 2021 to improve accessibility to the Garda service for victims of all types of Hate Crime. It is available via the garda.ie website and provides a safe and secure environment for victims, who may previously have been reluctant to report in person to An Garda Síochána.

To increase confidence and provide support and direction to Garda members in identifying, recording, investigating and prosecuting Hate Crime, a Policy Document - Responding to Hate Crime and Non-Crime Hate Incidents was developed and published in 2021. Additional procedures, aide memoire and information sheets have been provided to all Garda personnel and published on internal platforms.

A number of publicity campaigns have been held in support of the launch of the Online Hate Crime Reporting System, which included publicity and explanatory videos on garda.ie (script in 19 languages); and a Hate Crime information campaign with the publication and distribution of Hate Crime leaflets in 19 languages. 

Internal communication platforms were utilised to run in conjunction with public campaigns. A further Hate Crime publicity campaign is planned for 2022.

Following a full independent review of the Garda Diversity Training in January 2020, a new organisational approach to training is in the final stages of development and will be delivered throughout 2022. The training programme will increase Garda confidence in dealing with reports of Hate Crime.

The Deputy may also be interested to know that Garda Diversity Officers (GDOs) are Gardaí and Sergeants, trained, developed and supported to actively engage with and attend to the concerns of minority, diverse and hard to reach communities - providing reassurance, building trust and extending the accessibility of the Garda Service.

There are currently 331 GDOs throughout the country in every Garda division, who are supported by a Divisional Diversity Inspector. An up-to-date list containing the locations and contact details of GDOs is published on the Garda website.