Vol. 541 No. 2
96 Ms Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the action he will take to deal with racism here; the way in which a national plan will be developed; the timeframe envisaged; if separate statistics on racist crimes are kept; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22479/01]
As follow-up to the world conference on racism, I intend to prepare, in partnership with civil society, and relevant statutory bodies, a national action plan against racism. Many anti-racist initiatives are planned between now and 21 March 2001 – world anti-racism day – including the launch of the National Anti-Racism Awareness Programme on 24 October 2001; anti-racism workplace week, November 2001; the preparation of Ireland's national report under the United Nations Convention on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination, due in January 2002; the publication of the second report on Ireland by the European Commission on racism and intolerance, due in March 2002.
I intend to facilitate the holding of a seminar, with civil society participation in the context of preparing a national action plan, around world anti-racism day in March 2002, using experience from the above initiatives and reports with a view to producing a final action plan before the summer recess.
On the question of keeping separate statistics on racist crimes, I understand from the Gárda Síochána that a working definition of what constitutes a racist incident has been agreed and data capture of racially motivated crimes and offences is being developed. Gardaí are engaged in a continuing consultation process with members of ethnic minority groups and are in regular contact with community leaders. At present, there is close contact with leaders of the Muslim community to address their vulnerability at this time. Community groups are encouraged to report incidents to local gardaí and are encouraged to seek the assistance of the Garda racial and intercultural office.
It is important that the House acknowledges that the Taoiseach visited members of the Muslim community and this was a very welcome development.
Amnesty International recently published a report entitled Racism in Ireland, in which the views of the black and ethnic minority groups were outlined. They were alarmed at the levels of racism here. What is the Minister's reaction to that report? What reports has he received in recent days on racist attacks, particularly against the Muslim community? The Minister said in Durban that he thought there was a potential problem here in relation to racist crime. Does he accept there is a problem in that regard? Does the Minister agree this is a time for leadership in this area? Does he agree there is evidence that the attitudes of Irish people are in formation in relation to this issue but that strong leadership is needed? Does the Minister agree it is time to launch a national plan in which the efforts of all are co-ordinated and that the public is given leadership on this issue by all the agencies with responsibility but primarily by Government? When does the Minister propose to launch a comprehensive national action plan to tackle racism and show leadership to people in this area?
Ireland has embarked on major legislative change where racism is concerned in recent years. The Employment Equality Act and the Equal Status Act, for example, prohibit discrimination on nine specific grounds, including that of ethnic origin, in the provision of employment and services, respectively. In addition, we are currently reviewing the Incitement to Hatred Act which, I accept, is not operating effectively as there has been only one prosecution under it. However, we have also established a Human Rights Commission and we are in the process of incorporating the European Convention on Human Rights into Irish Law. All these measures enabled us to ratify for the first time in our history the 1965 convention against racism and that was a very welcome development in recent times.
I said in South Africa, and I repeat now, that I will do everything I possibly can, as will the Government, to ensure racism does not take up its ugly root in this jurisdiction. That is not to say there is not a tendency to racism among some people, but I contend they are in a minority. In this context, in February of this year, I set up a high level steering group under Mr. Joe McDonagh, the former president of the GAA, and requested that he bring forward implementation plans in respect of the aims and objectives set out by the committee dealing with interculturalism and racism. On 24 October, I hope to launch that plan. In May of this year, we announced some initiatives. The comprehensive plan, which will cost £4.5 million over a three year period, will be launched on 24 October and it will address the racism issue in the context of communications, media, education, political parties and so on. I am confident it will be successful.
The report of Amnesty International to which Deputy Fitzgerald referred is being examined in the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and by the Garda Síochána. In this respect, I assure the Deputy that the steps which have been taken to date have been a major advance on anything that occurred before and we are progressing with the implementation of the public awareness programme which will be a success.
The Minister said the legislation on incitement to hatred is not, in effect, working. Will he outline to the House the timetable for changing that legislation? What are the current statistics available to the Minister on racist crime? Is the issue of training for gardaí in the area of racism being addressed and, if so, how is it being addressed?
On the latter question, the training of the Garda Síochána is being addressed in Templemore. Gardaí are being trained, for example, in relation to obligations under the European Conventions on Human Rights and on the legislative position in regard to discrimination. As a core part of the training of members of the Garda Síochána in Templemore, there is a module regarding obligations under international human rights instruments and that includes the UN convention to which I referred earlier.
The Garda Síochána has taken a number of initiatives on policing in an intercultural society. It has agreed guiding principles for dealing with interculturalism, including the commitment to treat everyone fairly. To enhance the operational capacity of the gardaí in providing a police service in an intercultural Ireland, the Garda authorities have established a Garda national racial and intercultural office. As part of the Council of Europe human rights and policing initiative, the Garda has also established a working group to develop policy and practice on human rights and policing issues.
There is no definition at present of a racist offence in Irish criminal law. All of the offences, I imagine, are covered in one form or another in different criminal legislation. However, what I stated in my reply is that the Garda is now coming up with a definition of what will constitute, for its purposes, a racial incident. This will enable us in the future to compile a list of such incidents so that we will be able to give information on this matter and be in a position to monitor it so that it can be tackled effectively at a policing level.
