A seminar to examine the adequacy of Ireland's existing legislation to deal with racially-motivated crime is being held in Dublin today to mark the UN International Day Against Racial Discrimination.
A discussion paper looking at the issues involved will be presented by Professor Dermot Walsh of the Centre for Criminal Justice at the University of Limerick.
The study was commissioned by the National Action Plan Against Racism.
It found that provisions are needed to charge people with common offences that are specifically racist.
But the chairwoman of the group, Lucy Gaffney, said it also found racially motivated crime is not a huge problem in Ireland.
