Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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340. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the steps she and her Department are taking to prevent further attacks on politicians, political candidates and campaigners; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23955/24]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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While the vast majority of interactions that those in political life experience in the course of going about their work or campaigning are fair, friendly and productive, it is clear that they are facing increasing levels of personal intrusion and abuse, not just in Ireland, but internationally. Any threat to the safety of those in political life, electoral candidates or campaigners is a danger to our democracy and completely unacceptable.

I welcome the Report of the Task Force on Safe Participation in Political Life and the UCD Report on the findings of the Survey on the Abuse and Harassment of Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas and Political Staff which was published this month.

Nobody should have to endure behaviour that goes well beyond legitimate protest and which deliberately seeks to threaten and intimidate those individuals who participate in political life.

In that regard, there is a wide range of legislation under which attacks, threats and intimidation can be prosecuted, including the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Persons Act and Public Order legislation. If more is required, I have made it clear to the Garda Commissioner that every support, legislative or otherwise, will be provided to An Garda Síochána.

An Garda Síochána through proactive policing is working to identify, target and disrupt threats and is continuously enhancing its capacity through coordination, collaboration and information-led approaches. The Garda authorities have put in place a coordinated policing operation to collate any incidents reported to An Garda Síochána affecting persons in political life. This includes the identification of named Liaison Inspectors in each Garda Division along with the assistance of Divisional Crime Prevention Officers to support people in political life.

In addition, An Garda Síochána is actively engaging in outreach measures to provide information to those in political life and electoral candidates on crime prevention. On 9th May, An Garda Síochána launched a new guide for candidates running in the Local and European Elections, in partnership with 'Women for Election' and 'See Her Elected', with a focus on safety to give candidates the tools to recognise and respond to intimidatory or criminal behaviour. The guide is available on the Garda.ie website.

As the Deputy is aware, it would not be appropriate for me to detail the operational measures that the Garda authorities have taken or would take generally in situations where individual politicians are subject to threats or intimidation. I would encourage anyone with concerns to make contact with their local Liaison Inspector and they will be supported. I can assure the Deputy that whatever protective and detection measures are deemed appropriate by the Garda authorities have been and will certainly be taken.

Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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341. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the steps her Department is taking to monitor and combat the increasingly violent far right in Ireland and to prevent further violent actions by these individuals; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23957/24]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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There is no place in our society for violent extremist behaviour and I strongly condemn those engaged in such actions. Ireland has become a more diverse and welcoming country in recent decades, but regrettably there is a small minority who subject others to abuse or attack resulting from their own prejudice, whether under the guise of protesting or in other contexts. I also condemn those who would spread hate online with a view to stoking up tensions.

While people have the right to protest, and of course that right must be respected, people do not have the right to do this in a way that causes others to fear for their safety or to do so in a way that threatens public order. I have spoken to the Garda Commissioner and have been very clear that every support will be provided to An Garda Síochána to ensure appropriate action in respect of violent political extremism, whether by individuals or groups. If the line between protesting and threatening or intimidating behaviour is crossed there are a number of provisions in our laws that apply.

The Commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of An Garda Síochána by law. This includes the monitoring of protest activity where there is potential for serious policing and security implications to arise. The rule of law, human rights and the principle of proportionality are respected at all times.

When people go beyond what is acceptable, and put others in danger, members of An Garda Síochána will protect all members of the public and uphold the law. I am satisfied that there is a wide range of legislation under which threats and intimidation can be prosecuted, including the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Persons Act and Public Order legislation.

The law is kept under review in this area.

The manifestation of on-line disinformation and incitement as violent action in the physical world is of particular concern to my Department and An Garda Síochána and part of the Garda Síochána response to such incidents is to investigate the role of relevant online activity. As the Deputy will of course be aware, the online environment can also be a key enabler of harmful content, including disinformation.

It is clear that social media companies have an important responsibility to resource and operate robust systems of detection including the timely removal of harmful content.

In respect of online content, An Garda Síochána can coordinate where necessary with Europol and online service providers to request the removal of terrorist or extremist material. The EU Regulation on addressing the dissemination of terrorist content online provides for the removal of illegal content and a legal framework to ensure that hosting service providers address the misuse of their services for the dissemination of such content.

Additionally, as the Deputy will be aware, my colleague the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media has introduced the Online Services and Media Regulation Act and established Coimisiún na Meán, to regulate online media, including enforcing rules about how online services or platforms should deal with harmful and illegal content on their services. Minister Martin is also overseeing the process to develop a National Counter Disinformation Strategy which is expected to be published later this year.

Ireland is not unique in terms of dealing with issues of extremism. The Government and relevant state bodies also engage regularly with the EU and other partners on the evolving nature of extremism in various ideologies. For example, my Department is fully engaged with EU partners through the Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN). This is to develop our understanding of the evolution of the threat posed by extremist actors in order to take appropriate measures to counter such threats.