Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

Socialists stand in complete solidarity with those who are victims of hate crimes and hate speech. We salute campaigners in groups such as the Coalition Against Hate Crime Ireland for highlighting the impact of hate crime and hate speech and pushing for action to be taken. Hate crimes and hate speech have a real impact on people's lives and the lives of oppressed groups. Being the victim of these types of crime is difficult and shocking. It has a corrosive impact beyond the individual victim by telling people belonging to oppressed groups that they cannot be themselves in public and thereby reinforcing oppression.

Since the legislation passed in the Dáil, it has been subject to campaigning activity by the far right. These groups' real objections to the Bill stem from the fact that it is for hate crime and hate speech, areas where the far right would like fewer legal protections for those they are targeting with their hatred. They have, however, cynically highlighted some of the genuine civil liberties issues with the Bill. These are civil liberties that these far-right groups have no concern for or record of defending in reality. It is correct and just that hate crimes and hate speech are criminalised. It is also right that people who are the subject of hate would seek to have legal tools and mechanisms they can call upon to get justice. The Socialist Party is in favour of hate speech and hate crime legislation. I did not, however, support this Bill due to serious concerns about its contents. We would have supported amendments to the Bill that would have dealt with these serious issues concerning civil liberties.

Some concerns we have raised are being deleted by these proposed amendments. These include section 10, where the preparation or possession of material, rather than just its publication or sharing, was criminalised, and section 15, which deals with search warrants that give extensive powers to the Garda and the courts. These changes, however, have nearly come about by accident. They are not the result of the Government reviewing the Bill with an eye to improving it from the perspective of civil liberties. They are a product of the Government bending to far-right pressure and just deleting Part 2 of the Bill dealing with incitement to violence or hatred.

Meanwhile, other problematic parts will remain after these amendments pass. These include the maintenance of the demonstration test. A garda will just have to say that an accused person was heard using hate speech while committing another offence. This could be taken as evidence and used to convict. It could also be used to stigmatise political movements and activists. We have seen how those campaigning against the actions of the Israeli state, for example, in its oppression of the Palestinian people have been labelled as anti-Semitic. Hate convictions like these could be used to damage and stigmatise campaigners or social movements. A poor definition of "hate", not rooted in a human rights definition, also remains.

We support the calls for the proper funding and roll out of the national action plan against racism. This would be a progressive measure, but we need to go further. We need to tackle hate at its roots. These roots lie in a capitalist system that rests on inequality and systematically plunging people into poverty and precarity. It rests on an ideology of division to justify its rule. An active movement involving the oppressed that challenges racist prejudices and fights for an end to the housing crisis and a decent life for all can be the most effective way to push back and challenge racism, division and bigotry in all its forms.

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