Taoiseach asks whether laws enforced ‘robustly’ enough after ‘horrific’ protest at Minister Roderic O’Gorman’s house

He described the gathering of masked far-right activists in front of Children’s Minister Roderic O'Gorman’s home last week as an "absolutely horrific situation", adding that it was not a new phenomenon.

“This is something that has been festering for a number of years – it has happened in my house, it's happened at the home of the leader of Sinn Féin, it's happened to (Solidarity-People Before Profit TD) Paul Murphy's house, it's happened to the Government TDs,” he told RTÉ Radio One’s Today with Claire Byrne.

Taoiseach Simon Harris “horrified” by protest outside Children’s Minister Roderic O'Gorman's home

"What I want clarity on this week is a very simple question – is this a matter of enforcement or a matter of law? Are the laws that we have robust enough and therefore they just need to be enforced? Or do we need new law?

“I am very concerned that either the laws are there and aren't being robustly enforced in all cases.

"I'm a little frustrated that this is going on for too long. It's been a long time since 2017 when people were outside my home. And I worry that there’s a worsening of what we're actually seeing.

"I want to have a very clear answer right now as the leader of the Government – do we need new laws? And if we do, let's get on with it.”

Mr Harris said he will be speaking with the Minister for Justice Helen McEntee, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris and Coalition leaders in relation to this.

While speaking about the migration issues, he said the Government needs to be “agile in their response to the migration crisis”.

“The best way you tackle any potential abuse of a migration system or any potential concerns about rules not being implemented is faster processing times,” Mr Harris said.

"People have a right to seek asylum in this country. Let me be crystal clear on that, we are a country that is better as a result of immigration.

“We have to make sure that when people come to this country, they get a faster ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

"What Minister McEntee has done over the last period of time is identified a number of countries where we want to do faster processing times.”

Irish people are good and decent people who see the benefits of migration

When asked about the location of the accommodation centres, the Taoiseach said Mr O'Gorman – whose ministerial remit includes integration – brought an accommodation strategy to Cabinet a few weeks ago.

“His next step will be to come back with proposals in relation to locations and/or existing accommodation that can be used,” Mr Harris said.

“We are looking at a number of locations. It's so important that we maintain social cohesion in relation to this.

"Irish people are good and decent people who see the benefits of migration, they also would like to see a bit of common sense when it comes to migration.

"They don't like the idea of the Government rocking up to their town or village and taking the only hotel in the town or village out of circulation. And in a crisis, we've done it.

"But we need to move beyond that emergency crisis response to a more planned response. And as Taoiseach, that's what I expect from my government.”

Mr Harris said Ireland is dealing with a “relatively new phenomenon” and the Government has to “get it right”.

"It is likely that you won't see one announcement [relating to] a number of locations; it's more likely we'll deal with these on a case-by-case basis as they arise,” the Taoiseach said.

“There will also be other areas of the country where we will actually be seeing leases not renewed, hotels put back in use,” he said, adding he expects development on this in the coming weeks.

When asked whether he thought of moving Ms McEntee from her post in the Cabinet, he said he was "very satisfied with Minister McEntee as Minister for Justice".

The Taoiseach also said he is "absolutely aware" that some people across urban and rural Ireland "do feel unsafe at times".

He said Minister McEntee is doing a "very good job" and added that it is his job to work closely with his colleagues to "make sure the streets are safer".

“Minister McEntee brought forward proposals around knife crime, around increasing the sentences. Next month, we'll see the rollout of body cams so that the gardaí aren't the only people at the protest that don't have a camera,” Mr Harris said.

"We’ve increased sentences for attacks on the gardaí, we now have 185 more trainee gardaí that went into Templemore earlier this month.

“So there are a number of ways we have to combat this to try and make sure that people do feel safe and that the gardaí are supported.”

When asked about a "woke agenda" that has been used by some critics as a label for the Government's focus, Mr Harris said it is an "offensive term".

“There’s nothing ‘woke’, whatever that means, in relation to placing a focus on issues that haven't been looked at for a long number of years," he said.

Mr Harris also said he intends to pass an amended version of proposed hate-speech legislation before the next general election.

Politicians have been wrangling over the wording of the bill, which aims to overhaul incitement-to-hatred legislation introduced in 1989.

New laws would see "hate" become an aggravating factor in certain offences.

Concerns have been raised around a lack of clarity on what "hate" means, and what impact the legislation could have on freedom of speech.

Amid concerns raised about the draft laws, which aim to modernise Ireland's legislation around hate-related crimes to better suit online activity, Justice Minister McEntee is to propose amendments to the bill.

Although the Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022 has passed through the Dáil, if amendments are proposed and passed by the Seanad, the bill would need to return to the Dáil for approval.

Mr Harris said it is his intention to pass the amended legislation before the next general election, which needs to be held by March 22, 2025, at the latest.

"I have made a decision that we are going to pass a law in this space, I'm very clear on that," he said.

Sinn Féin and some government politicians, including Fine Gael TDs Charlie Flanagan and Michael Ring, have called for the hate speech draft laws to be scrapped entirely.

Hate crime is not a pretend crime; it is a very real thing

Mr Harris said the measure was in the Programme for Government.

He stated that he finds it "a little unusual" how almost all 160 TDs voted in favour of the hate speech draft law, and now some are "running around as if they've never heard of the bill".

He said they need to ensure "the bill is right" and that some TDs and people have "asked legitimate questions about how the law can be improved".

"I do think there have been legitimate issues, or at least legitimate questions raised, in relation to freedom of speech, in relation to definitions, clarifications and the likes," Mr Harris said.

"Hate crime is not a pretend crime; it is a very real thing.

"If I want to be tough on law and order and support the gardaí, that means supporting the gardaí in pursuing all crimes, including hate crimes, and when the gardaí believe they need new laws in this area, it would be a very irresponsible Taoiseach that wouldn't take that seriously.

"So we will pass the bill. The bill will be amended and the bill will seek to address significant concerns that have been made."

He said the Government would discuss how the legislation would be amended, adding that he wanted to ensure there are not "unintended consequences" around freedom of speech.

Mr Harris said politicians needed to be "a bit more humble" when issues are raised, stating: “I think we got that message from people on a number of occasions.”

When asked if the two defeated referenda on changing wording in the constitution on family and care was such an example, he said it was.

“When enough people are saying 'there's a problem here', [it’s] not putting your fingers in your ears and saying ‘la la la’ but actually trying to engage with people on the issue. That’s what we'll try to do,” Mr Harris said.