Some 46 court proceedings have been initiated by An Garda Síochána since the Criminal Justice (Hate Offences) Act 2024 became law.
The figures have been published by Justice Minister, Jim O’Callaghan TD in response to a parliamentary question from Social Democrats TD Pádraig Rice.
Former Minister for Justice Helen McEntee signed the order to ensure that the Act came into force on New Year’s Eve in 2024. Although McEntee removed incitement ti hatred from her original proposals, the law provided for increased prison sentences for certain crimes, where deemed to be motivated by hatred, or hostility towards a protected group.
Deputy Rice asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration for the number of offences aggravated under section 8 of the Criminal Justice (Hate Offences) Act 2024 have been recorded in the first year since the controversial legislation was made law.
In response, Mr O’Callaghan said that the Government was determined to “stamp out” hate-motivated crime and “protect vulnerable communities.”
“Everyone has the right to live safely, free from intimidation or abuse regardless of background,” he said. “The introduction of the Criminal Justice (Hate Offences) Act 2024 strengthens the law by ensuring perpetrators face tougher penalties where hatred is proven to be a motivating factor, or where hatred is demonstrated based on the identity of the victim. An Garda Síochána takes hate crime very seriously.”
He added: “Every hate crime reported to An Garda Síochána is professionally investigated, and victims are supported during the criminal justice process.
“I am informed by An Garda Síochána that 40 proceedings (charge/summons) have been initiated since 1 January 2025 which referenced an offence contrary to the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997, aggravated by hatred as inserted by the Criminal Justice (Hate Offences) Act 2024.”
“I am further informed that the protected characteristics in question require manual review of free text narratives to discern. Moreover, multiple protected characteristics can be specified on a single charge/summons or not at all.”
The most prominent of these, he added, was ‘Race,’ which was referenced on 18 occasions.
“Other protected characteristics were referenced fewer than 10 times each, which is below An Garda Síochána’s reporting threshold,” added Mr O’Callaghan.
Under the law, gender is defined as “the gender of a person or the gender which a person expresses as the person’s preferred gender or with which the person identifies and includes transgender and a gender other than those of male and female”.
The Act prompted criticism, including from former Tánaiste and Senator Michael McDowell, who told the Irish Daily Mail, in relation to its wording on gender, that it was “the high point of wokeism,” adding: “It’s bad law bringing in a concept that no one knows what it means.”
Meanwhile, Senator Sharon Keogan said it took almost 25 minutes to read a list of nearly a thousand ‘genders’ that could be included in the Act.
In December, when asked by Paul Murphy of People Before Profit if asylum seekers “targeted for physical attack” would be moved to a new location to ensure they would not be targeted again, Mr O’Callaghan referenced the law.
“The Government is determined to stamp out hate-motivated crimes and to protect vulnerable communities,” he said.
“The Criminal Justice (Hate Offences) Act 2024 came into effect at the start of this year. The new legislation provides for increased prison sentences for certain crimes, where they are proven to be motivated by hatred, or where hatred is demonstrated based on the identity of the victims,” he added in his response.
“I can assure the Deputy that An Garda Síochána takes hate crime very seriously. Every hate crime reported to An Garda Síochána is professionally investigated and victims supported during the criminal justice process.”