I wish to raise the issue of hate crime. The Irish Council for Civil Liberties today published its report on hate crime in Ireland. The report found that a policy vacuum exists for those people subjected to hate crimes, especially people from African backgrounds and transgender people. I am aware that this issue will be raised on Saturday at the transgender healthcare protest, which will be held at 3 p.m. It is a very serious issue and has been on the legislative books for a long time. I believe the last piece of legislation to deal with hate crime was in 1989. Perhaps the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan, will comment on this.

I thank Deputy Kenny for raising this important issue. I have not yet seen the report but I have requested an early copy. Having heard some reports of the report, I believe that some aspects are disturbing. I would be very keen to act on any recommendations in the report as soon as possible, and conduct a review of the Prohibition on Incitement to Racial Religious or National Hatred Act, in the context of this report. As the Minister for Justice and Equality I want to ensure that we show zero tolerance to any form of hate crime.