Controversial hate speech provisions have been removed from criminal law with the passage of the law in Seanad – The Irish Times

Justice Secretary Helen McEntee has removed controversial hate speech provisions from criminal justice laws passed by the Seanad, more than a year after the last debate in the House of Lords.

The criminal justice system (incitement to violence or hatred and hate crimes) was approved by the Dáil last year but stalled in the Seanad amid criticism from backbenchers, senators, free speech groups and tech billionaire Elon Musk.

Introducing the amendments on Wednesday evening, Ms McEntee referred to comments from senators last year that the bill would “pass immediately” if the hate crime elements were separated out.

The changes in the Seanad remove parts of the bill dealing with incitement to violence and hatred and the hate speech elements, but the provisions dealing with hate crimes remain.

Longer prison sentences apply if hatred is proven to be the motive for a crime. Harsher penalties also apply to bodily harm or property damage if hatred is proven to be an aggravating factor.

Ms McEntee said she wanted to “completely remove the incitement to violence or hatred provisions from this bill so that we can move forward this important piece of legislation and send a very clear message that hate and violence will not be tolerated in our society.”

“I have said very publicly that I believe we need to update our 1989 laws. I am absolutely convinced that this must be next on our agenda.”

She said: “The main purpose of this hate crime legislation is to publicly acknowledge the harm caused by hate-motivated criminal behavior and to make clear that this will not be tolerated.”

“Aggravated hate crimes have been criminalized in most Western countries. Hate crimes challenge our societies by directly undermining the sense of belonging and place that is central to inclusive communities.

“We must do everything we can to protect people from being targeted solely because of their identity, especially in the current climate of increasing intolerance, hatred and violence against vulnerable and marginalized communities.”

The shortened bill deletes references to incitement to violence or hatred as well as to the EU framework decision to combat racism and xenophobia and its title changes to “Criminal Justice Act (Hate Crimes)”.

Independent Senator Rónán Mullen welcomed the government’s consideration of “people’s serious concerns about this law in its original form, as passed by the Dáil, and its impact on legitimate freedom of expression on important controversial issues”.

He said Irish society was “in the midst of a cancel culture”. People try to use attacks on other people’s communications as a weapon to stop the expression of opinions and ideas that they disagree with and believe should not be allowed.

“Such a culture is of course toxic to any free society,” he said. But he said: “I don’t understand why the government’s response was simply to remove that from the bill.” He believed the issues could have been resolved by working with interested parties.

There has also been criticism of the definition of gender, but the term “transgender” and the phrase “a sex other than male and female” remain in the legislation, which now goes to the Seanad.

No vote took place because opponents did not have the five senators required for a vote.

The legislation is now expected to go back to the Dáil next week.