Vol. 537 No. 5
502 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he has considered the recommendations made by Amnesty International to deal with the problem of racism here; and if he will give a commitment to reform the law in this area and provide resources to investigate abuses and to prosecute abusers. [17208/01]
In the past four years, the Government has introduced comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation and other measures to combat racism and discrimination.
It was a matter of regret that the significant progress already made by this Government was not acknowledged in the recent ill-judged publicity campaign by Amnesty International.
Ireland has one of the most advanced anti-discrimination codes in Europe. Both the Employment Equality Act, 1998, and the Equal Status Act, 2000, contain a broad definition of race which covers race, colour, nationality or ethnic or national origins. Indeed, Ireland was one of the leading EU partners in the preparation of the EU Race Directive which was adopted last June and in framing its directive, the European Commission modelled aspects of it on the Irish legislation.
This Government enacted the Employment Equality Act, 1998, and the Equal Status Act, 2000, which provided for the establishment of agencies such as the Equality Authority and an Office of the Director of Equality Investigations to provide redress for victims of racism and discrimination. Other bodies, such as the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism, the Garda Racial and Intercultural Office, and the Reception and Integration Agency, have also been established. The Government has funded several Traveller initiatives for a number of years, including the Citizen Traveller Campaign, and has also funded the NCCRI since 1998.
In its campaign, Amnesty International calls for the review of the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act, 1989. As I stated at our National Conference Against Racism last autumn, many months before the Amnesty International campaign commenced, the 1989 Act is currently being reviewed in my Department with a view to improving its effectiveness. At this stage, I cannot predict a timescale for the completion of the review. However, I hope to conclude the review as soon as possible.
The NCCRI in partnership with a range of non-government organisations has organised a system of reporting racist incidents. Victims of racist incidents are encouraged to report such incidents. The purpose of the reporting system is to provide a profile of the number, type and location of incidents that are occurring and to identify emerging patterns. The NCCRI will issue reports on the information that is received.
The Garda Síochána has been to the forefront in devising strategies to deal with issues arising in policing a multicultural society, one measure of which is the establishment of the Garda Racial and Intercultural Office.
