Ireland

How hate crime data is collected

Hate crime data is provided to the Central Statistics Office by An Garda Síochána (the National Police Force of Ireland), in line with Section 47 of the Garda Síochána Act of 2005 (amended). The Act places an obligation on the Garda Commissioner to compile and store statistical information concerning offences and to make it available to the Minister (Justice and Equality) and the Central Statistics Office. Data is made publicly available. In the absence of hate crime legislation, the current approach to recording hate crime in Ireland is through the identification of a base offence that is assigned one or more bias motivations, as follows: ageism, anti-disability, anti-Muslim, anti-Roma, anti-Semitism, anti-Traveller, gender-related, homophobia, racism, sectarian and transphobia. The Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act of 1989 can also be utilized.

Data is recorded on PULSE, which is the national production database containing records that are being worked on and which are subject to change. In October 2019, An Garda Síochána launched the Garda Diversity & Integration Strategy 2019-2021. The Strategy focuses on enhancing the identification, reporting, recording, investigation and prosecuting of hate crimes. It contains a working hate crime definition (below) that is in line with international good practices and the McPherson "perception test”. It also recognizes the current and emerging diversity of our communities, and aims to protect all diverse and minority groups in society. According to the definition, a hate crime is "[a]ny criminal offence which is perceived, by the victim or any other person to, in whole or in part, be motivated by hostility or prejudice, based on actual or perceived age, disability, race, colour, nationality, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or gender". This definition is used as a guide when determining if a crime should be recorded as a hate crime. Currently, non-crime hate incidents that do not meet the threshold of criminality are not recorded as hate crimes. As outlined in the Strategy, An Garda Síochána is upgrading PULSE to capture hate-related motivations for all incidents, both crime and non-crime. This will enable data on hate crimes and incidents to be collated more accurately in future. This update will allow for non-crime hate incidents to be recorded. In addition, the current discriminatory motives will be amended to reflect the definition of hate crime. The PULSE update will be accompanied by policy, procedures and guidelines on  "Responding to Hate Crime and Non-Crime Hate Incidents".