My Department is aware of the report of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance and also of the report of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. My Department is also aware that the European Commission report makes no allegation that such profiling is actually carried out. This is not surprising given that an Garda Síochána do not engage in racial profiling. In that regard I am advised that the Garda Síochána does not engage in discriminatory ethnic or racial profiling, and specifically that it does not engage in data gathering or data mining based upon discriminatory profiling in respect of race, colour, language, religion, nationality, national or ethnic origin, ethnicity or membership of the traveller community.
Racial profiling in services offered by the Gardaí is already prohibited by race discrimination under Equal Status legislation. However, investigation of crime, public order etc are not services - they come under the controlling functions of the State and, as such, are outside the scope of equality legislation. The question of whether we should create a legislative prohibition therefore needs to be considered in that light.
This is of course a complex matter. Ireland has become a much more diverse society and indeed the nature of Irishness has evolved as many people from overseas have made their homes here. At the same time immigration control is an important national interest and our laws must be enforced. I believe however that it is perfectly possible to operate an effective system of immigration control without resorting to racial profiling but relying instead on good intelligence and the professional judgement and experience of our Gardaí and immigration officers and indeed this has been demonstrated to be the case. I will consider this matter further in the development of the Immigration Protection and Residence Bill which I propose to republish later this year.
