Doireann Ansbro

The coalition, which is led by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL), has raised concerns over just one session of the Oireachtas justice committee examining the proposed legislation with no calendar for further engagement ahead of the publication of the bill.

Doireann Ansbro, ICCL’s head of legal and policy, said: “It’s really important that targeted communities’ voices are heard as government drafts this legislation on hate crime. It’s not sufficient to invite some groups but not others.

“Different groups experience hate crime in different ways and all lived experiences need to be reflected in the legislation. For example, Travellers may experience hate crime differently to people with disabilities, immigrants, or trans people.”

The group said engagement with representatives from all the communities that stand to benefit from the new legislation is required at all stages of the legislative process, especially as specific consultations on hate crime never took place.

ICCL, which has published its submission to the justice committee, said it is also concerned that the justice committee hearing focused only on hate crime and did not engage in sufficient scrutiny on the section of the legislation dealing with the related but distinct issue of hate speech.