Aodhán Ó Ríordáin
Question:6. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Minister for Justice to restate her intention to pursue the passing of hate crime legislation this year. [17753/24]
View answerTuesday, 23 April 2024
Questions (6)
Oral answers (6 contributions)
In the public sphere, the Minister has restated her commitment to hate crime legislation. In light of rumblings from Government backbenches and from the Opposition and of people abandoning their previous commitments to supporting hate crime legislation, will she now take the opportunity to speak to her own commitment to pass hate crime legislation?
It is my intention to progress the Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill to enactment to protect those who are most vulnerable and who, sadly as we have seen, are attacked simply because of who they are, where they came from or because of some other part of their identity that is, quite frankly, nobody else's business. I am determined to enact strong, effective and proportionate legislation to do this. Some people have raised concerns about certain provisions in the Bill and I have indicated that I am willing to look at addressing, as appropriate, those concerns. To this end, I am considering a number of amendments which I intend to bring forward on Committee Stage in the Seanad in due course.
As the Deputy is aware, this Bill will legislate against hate crimes for the first time in Irish law and bring us into line with our European counterparts. We are one of the last countries in the European Union without hate crime legislation. This legislation is necessary and the figures from An Garda Síochána showing a significant increase in hate crimes in recent years are proof of that. Having hate crime laws in place is widely supported by the public.
I assure the Deputy that what is proposed to address hate crime is balanced, both in terms of recognising the effect that hate crimes have on their victims and the criminal test used to prove such offences. The demonstration test, which we have discussed in this Chamber and which is provided for in this legislation, simply means that a person accused of a hate crime must have demonstrated hatred towards a member of a protected group or characteristic at the time he or she committed the alleged offence. It is this demonstration of hatred that causes the additional harm to victims in comparison with other crimes.
As the Deputy will be aware, the Bill completed all Stages in Dáil Éireann in April 2023, with 110 Deputies voting in favour and just 14 voting against. I am looking forward to engaging with colleagues again when the Bill comes back into this House and to progressing this important legislation.
I am reassured by that and I thank the Minister for her response. A Croatian man was beaten to death a couple of weeks ago because he did not speak English. We have had 23 arson attacks on accommodation centres over the last number of years. Members of the LGBTQ+ community and their families know what it is like to feel afraid that they will be assaulted for who they are.
We are behind every other European country when it comes to legislation in this regard. I am aghast at Government backbenchers who, in the wake of the referendums, have decided that this is some kind of culture war agenda. I am similarly aghast at members of the Opposition changing their position. I am encouraged by the Minister's words and while I hate to return to the issue of misinformation, in an election year this Bill is being used by people who are saying it is something that it is not. Can we speak to how serious the issues are and about the people we are hoping to protect? They are very vulnerable people, which is the point of the legislation the Minister is trying to get over the line, with the support of the Labour Party.
The Deputy is right. It is not just a case of people feeling unsafe; they are unsafe simply because of who they are. We have had quite sinister attacks. While I do not want to get into particular cases, very serious incidents have taken place. We do not have to look too far to find somebody who has been the victim of some form of hate crime, motivated simply because of the colour of their skin, where they have come from, or the potential partner they have and we need to say very clearly, as a society, that this is not okay. Gardaí have made it very clear to me that we need this legislation, that hate crimes are on the increase and that we need to respond effectively.
We all have a responsibility to call out the misinformation that is being spread, particularly about this legislation. This is not about criminalising opinions or preventing people from engaging in meaningful debate, be it political, academic or otherwise. It is about making sure that people who are at risk have protection. We need to say that very clearly and to provide gardaí with the resources they need to be able to respond to these types of incidents.
Again, I am encouraged by the Minister's words but I want to be sure that this legislation can be enacted before a general election. This is the type of legislation that can define a Minister and a Government; indeed, it can define the body politic. How much are we going to risk to enact legislation to protect those who are powerless? To my mind, this is an indication of how serious we are about law and order in Irish politics. This legislation is also a test of how serious the Minister is about pushing back against those who will use the race card in an election year to gain some cheap racist votes for themselves. I want to support the Minister, as does my party. We were disappointed with some of the narratives that came out post-referendum, with people running away from the importance of this legislation. Can the Minister give me some more encouragement by indicating when we might see this Bill enacted?
I had outlined that it was my intention to bring forward amendments after Easter but, obviously, we have had a lot of things going on. While there has been a slight delay, it is still my intention to bring forward amendments in the coming weeks. It is really important that we say what this legislation does, as well as what it does not do. This is about protecting those who are most vulnerable in our society and one could not get any more law-and-order than that, as far as I am concerned.