Concerns over hate crime legislation to be considered but law to be enacted ‘within months’ - McEntee

Discussions will take place in the coming weeks between Helen McEntee and Fianna Fáil Senators who have raised concerns with regard to the proposed hate speech legislation. Speaking in Galway on Friday the Minister for Justice said she would meet with the Senators and expects the new law to enacted “in the coming months”.

Ms McEntee said she would take on board all opinions concerning the legislation and seek to resolve the concerns raised by the Senators but confirmed that it was her intention to make the law “as strong as we possibly can”.

A number of Fianna Fáil Senators, including leader of the Seanad, Lorraine Clifford Lee, raised concerns over the scope of the Bill earlier this year, and its potential effects on free speech.

The Bill will create new, aggravated forms of certain existing criminal offences such as assault, where those offences are motivated by hatred against people with a “protected characteristic” such as race, gender, religion, sexual orientation or disability.

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It passed its final stage in the Dáil in April but fears have since been raised by a number of Fianna Fáil politicians about potential issues in the Bill, such as the definition of hate.

On Friday, Ms McEntee reiterated her commitment to the Bill and her intention to make it as strong and robust as possible.

“I will be linking in with colleagues again in the coming weeks. As is the case with any legislation, when people raise concerns, I take them on board. I obviously have to consult with the Attorney General and make sure that any laws that we bring through are constitutional and that we make them as strong as we possibly can. That is the work that I am doing at the moment,” she said.

“That legislation is going through the Houses at the moment. It has passed all stages in the Dáíl and I hope that it will be concluded and enacted in the coming months. I absolutely believe that this is a piece of legislation that is needed.

“We don’t have hate crime legislation in this country. If you are a person in one of the marginalised groups, if you are a person who is in the new Irish community, if you are a person in the LGBT community, where we have seen an increase in attacks, there is no law to say that what is happening to you, and the fact that you are being targeted simply because of who you are, there are no laws to reflect that.

“I think it is absolutely imperative that we have strong laws to protect people, particularly those who are marginalised, when it comes to hate speech,” she said.

This legislation is simply updating laws that we already have on our statute books, it is about strengthening these laws and acknowledging that technology plays a huge part in our lives now in a way that it didn’t back in 1989, when this law was first introduced. This legislation is about protecting people, protecting those who are marginalised and I absolutely intend to have this enacted in the coming months.”