Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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661. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of incidences brought to her attention deemed to have been in breach of legislation affecting the balance between freedom of speech and the control of expressions of hate or incitement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26120/21]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy may be aware, incitement to hatred is a criminal offence under the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989.

I am advised by the Courts Service that the number of offences and number of people where convictions were recorded in the District Court for offences under the Act in the period from 1 January 2000 to 31 March 2021 is contained in the table below.

It should be noted that Courts can only provide data in relation to where offence codes provided on the system were used by prosecutors. Prosecutors may have used uncoded free text offences and any such offences would not be included in the data provided.

In respect of the Circuit Court, I am advised by the Courts Service that the IT system in use is unable to produce a report showing the information requested by the Deputy.

The Deputy may be aware that the Justice Plan 2021 commits to introducing new legislation to deal with hate crime and incitement to hatred by the end of this year.  Government approval was recently secured to publish the General Scheme of the Criminal Justice (Hate Crime) Bill 2021.

This is an important step in delivering on the Programme for Government commitment to introduce legislation to address those who target victims because of their association with a particular identity characteristic, and to revise and update the Incitement to Hatred Act. Although incitement to hatred is already an offence, experience has shown that it is difficult to prosecute and there have been very few convictions since the introduction of the 1989 Act.

As part of the work to prepare this proposed legislation, a comprehensive public consultation was carried out which included a public survey and an opportunity for stakeholders to make formal submissions. In addition, my Department also carried out comparative research on international best practice on hate crime legislation.

The purpose of this work was to ensure that the legislative proposals presented are evidence-based, proportionate and effective, while respecting important rights to freedom of expression and association.

I can assure the Deputy that all legislative proposals are developed and put forward bearing in mind the provisions of the Constitution and our human rights obligations.

The right to freedom of expression is a fundamental human right, provided for in the Irish Constitution and in both the European Convention on Human Rights and in the European Charter of Fundamental Rights. However, like other rights in our Constitution, it is not an absolute right, and can be limited or restricted by law. This can only happen where there are compelling reasons, including protecting other fundamental human rights. Any such limitation or restriction must be necessary, proportionate and explicitly provided for in law.

I am confident that the approach taken to the reform of our legislation in this area will ensure that the legislation introduced plays a significant part in delivering a safer, fairer and more inclusive Ireland for everyone, now as well as into the future. This is the mission of my Department and as Minister I am fully committed to combatting incitement to hatred and hate crime as a key part of this.