On Friday, the people will be asked to remove the offence of blasphemy from the Constitution as recommended by the Constitutional Convention. We should remove blasphemy from the Constitution. We should also strengthen the legislation to prohibit religious hatred. The Labour Party introduced the original equality legislation that outlawed discrimination on the basis of religion. We have seen a new wave of anti-Semitism in Europe and also the rise of Islamophobia. We should outlaw the spreading of hatred, including through social media, where toxic messages undermine social cohesion. Removing blasphemy from the Constitution is an important symbolic act. My main concern is not that scores of people will be accused of blasphemy in the near future but that, as a tolerant and diverse society, one thing we cannot tolerate is intolerance. Blasphemy is an offence that allows a group of people to be intolerant of simple difference. Blasphemy is not an offence against a person but an offence against a set of ideas. If Ireland wants to be taken seriously in the United Nations, it is timely to remove this anachronism. We should send a clear signal of personal freedom to those countries where blasphemy is still a very serious matter, in some cases a capital offence. All too often the offence of blasphemy is used as cover for persecution of religious minorities or non-believers.

Let us consider the case of Asia Bibi. According to the European Centre of Law and Justice, she is a Christian mother of five who was convicted of blasphemy for offering her co-workers a cup of water. Her co-workers said she had made the cup ceremoniously unclean by drinking from it and ordered her to convert to Islam. Asia refused and expressed her faith as a Christian. She was charged with blasphemy, convicted and sentenced to death. She has been in prison for the past nine years waiting for the Supreme Court of Pakistan to hear her appeal. Asia Bibi should be freed but the Pakistani authorities are in no hurry to do anything, as we understand it. There are security concerns as radicals have issued death threats not only against Asia and her family but against the judges who heard the case. She needs to be offered asylum. Has the Government had any recent contacts on her behalf with the authorities in Pakistan? Can the Government put pressure on the new Pakistani Prime Minister, Imran Khan, including at EU level, to secure her release? Will Ireland offer Asia Bibi asylum?

I thank the Deputy. The blasphemy referendum will happen on Friday at the same time as the presidential election. The Government is asking people to vote "Yes" in that referendum. We see it as part of an ongoing drive to modernise our Constitution to make it a 21st century Constitution for a 21st century republic following on from the decision to remove the constitutional ban on divorce, the decision to enshrine the marriage equality provision in our Constitution and the more recent decision to ensure that women have the right to choose when it comes to their reproductive health.

As the Deputy said, it can be seen as a signal to other countries that Ireland stands for freedom of speech, freedom of religion and for the freedom not to have a religion. On occasion, blasphemy rules are used against people who have no religion or who express agnostic or atheist views. That is the case, unfortunately, in some parts of the world. I also want to recognise the Deputy for raising the issue of the persecution of Christians which is a serious problem across the Arab and Muslim world and in some countries in Africa and Asia. It is important that we stand in solidarity with Christians who are being persecuted around the world. I am not aware of any contacts with the Pakistani authorities on that particular case. I have written to Prime Minister Imran Khan to congratulate him on his recent election but I am not aware of any particular contacts on that particular case. I will have to raise it with the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and see if we can let our views be known on it.

I thank the Taoiseach for his response. Everybody in the House recognises the importance of religious freedom. Everybody should have freedom of conscience to believe what they want and to express views on it as long as it does not incite hatred. We have laws about incitement to hatred, which can be strengthened, but we need to take the dated concept of blasphemy out of our fundamental law in the Constitution.

I acknowledge the Taoiseach's comment that he will raise the specific case of Asia Bibi. It would be a sign of our non-acceptance of intolerance that we would reach out to somebody like Asia. It would be an important sign to say we will provide asylum because she will not be able to live in Pakistan with the death threats she and her family have endured. Even if the authorities there release her, she should be offered asylum somewhere and why not offer her asylum here? Will the Taoiseach give some consideration to that proposal?

I will certainly give consideration to what the Deputy has to say on our incitement to hatred laws but we always need to be careful to get the balance right. I know the Deputy would want that too. In bringing in laws that restrict what people can say, we must ensure they do not go so far as to trammel free speech and that is a balance we always need to get right.

I am at a slight disadvantage. I have read a little bit about the case the Deputy has referred to in the newspapers but I have not been briefed on it and I do not know all the facts. I am not sure if we are in a position to offer asylum to somebody who has not sought it in Ireland. I will undertake to get a briefing on the case and discuss it with the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade.