The hate speech bill is “going nowhere” in its current form, Fianna Fáil TD Barry Cowen has said, citing “complacency” as the potential reason for the legislation’s undoing.
Cowen said that the controversial Bill is “being looked at again” by Justice Minister Helen McEntee, adding that “The Minister has a responsibility to make amendments, to make changes, and to bring it back, and we’ll look at it then. But in its present form there is far too much grievance with it for it to proceed.”
Speaking on Virgin Media’s The Tonight Show last on Monday evening, the former Agriculture Minister and MEP candidate for the upcoming June elections said that the legislation was “going, going, gone.”
“It might well be going,” he said, adding: “Look, in its present form it’s going nowhere.”
Referring to the government’s two defeated Family and Care referendums earlier this month, in which the public voted ‘No’ to both by a significant margin, Cowen said that “complacency was the problem with the referendums” and that “the same issue can’t repeat itself with this.”
However, during the same programme, Fine Gael Minister of State Neale Richmond was asked if he could see the hate speech bill being passed before the next general election, to which he replied: “I think there’s a possibility.”
However, he stressed that the government was considering changes to the proposed legislation.
“I think there’s a review process underway,” he said.
“There’s an awful lot of amendments to review. There’s an awful lot of people – both people who are in favour of it, and people who are against it, who want that being reflected upon…I think in its current format it would be very difficult to see it progress through the Dáil. But we are going back to reflect on it.”
Asked about incoming Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris calling for “humility” in dealing with issues like the hate speech bill, Richmond said that the referendum defeat had given the government pause on such matters.
“The referendum that we had a couple of weeks ago was the first time we had faced the people in about four years,” he said.
“And we have to make sure that when we approach them again, either electorally or just in terms of policy, that we are clear that we are listening, that we are demonstrating that we are listening. And the Incitement Against Hatred (Bill) is just one piece of legislation in the Dáil where people have concerns and want to have a further discussion.
“It’s been taken back by Minister McEntee, as Barry rightly says. There’s been amendments from people who think it goes too far, and people who think it doesn’t go far enough – Patrick Costello from the Green Party said as much on the radio this morning. So [Justice Minister Helen McEntee] has a responsibility, and has undertaken that responsibility to give it a good look.”
Asked if the referendum defeat had “unnerved” the government regarding controversial legislation, Richmond said: “I think it started before the referendum, but I think we’d be foolish to say that the referendum campaign didn’t impact all political parties. Remember, all political parties bar one campaigned for this.”
On the topic of whether the legislation was being put on the long-finger, Richmond insisted it was part of the Programme for Government which they would be sticking to.
“We have an agreed programme for government. We fully intend to stick to the programme for government, and to ensure that that which can be achieved before the general election is achieved.”
In a Newstalk interview this morning, incoming Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris said the government would be proceeding with the Bill.
Simon Harris has said he will not abandon the Hate Crime legislation when he becomes Taoiseach. https://t.co/1oqJ6Tw5Yf
— NewstalkFM (@NewstalkFM) March 26, 2024