Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 November 2025
651. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration to list all written or oral representations made to the Government by or on behalf of the European Commission from 1 January 2025 to date calling on the State to adopt so-called "hate-speech" legislation; to summarise the contents of those representations and any responses which were issued; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [65588/25]
View answerThis Government is determined to stamp out hate-motivated crimes and we are determined to protect vulnerable communities. Ireland was at the forefront of tackling incitement to hatred through the introduction of legislation, namely the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act, in 1989. It is an offence to incite hatred based on a person’s race, colour, nationality, religion, ethnic or national origins, membership of the travelling community or sexual orientation.
The information sought by the Deputy, regarding written or oral representations made to the Government by the European Commission in the context of the transposition of Council Framework Decision [2008/913/JHA] of 28 November 2008 on combating certain forms and expressions of racism and xenophobia by means of criminal law, is outlined below.
On 7 May 2025 the European Commission issued a written Reasoned Opinion outlining the provisions of the Framework Decision that in their opinion Ireland had not adequately transposed. The Reasoned Opinion focused specifically on certain elements of Articles 1, 4, 8 and 9 relating, among other things, to criminalising public incitement to violence against a group or a member of such group based on certain characteristics, as well as condoning or denying international humanitarian law crimes such as genocide or crimes against humanity.
On 8 May 2025, an online meeting took place between officials of the European Commission and my officials to discuss the Reasoned Opinion. It provided an opportunity for the European Commission to elaborate on the legal arguments supporting the view that Ireland had not adequately transposed the Framework Decision.
On 14 October 2025, my Department and European Commission officials participated in an online discussion regarding Ireland’s response to the Reasoned Opinion, which issued to the Commission on 8 July. Ireland’s response to the Reasoned Opinion expressed reservations with regard to the Commission's analysis of the perceived shortcomings of the current Irish implementation, in particular, that sufficient weight has not been given to Ireland’s position that the provisions in the Framework are effectively transposed by existing Irish constitutional, statute and common law.
In this context, officials of the European Commission thanked the Department for the additional information and relevant Irish legal provisions, provided in the response to the Reasoned Opinion in support of the position that Ireland has indeed fully transposed all elements of the Directive, and indicated they are currently considering the response.
