Ireland is among a number of European Union countries which stands accused of failing in its duty to tackle hate crime.

The study was conducted by the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) of the EU and found that 13 of the 27 member States could provide only "limited data" on hate crimes.

Few incidents were recorded, data was rarely published and the motivation behind the crime if specified was usually restricted to racism.

These countries included Spain, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Hungary and Bulgaria.

The report says that if a criminal justice system overlooks bias in hate crimes that amounts to a violation of the European Convention of Human Rights.

It adds that greater political is needed on the part of decision-makers to counter "pervasive prejudice against certain groups and compensate for the damage".

Harsher, public sentences needed

It believes victims and witnesses should be encouraged to report such crimes and that legislation should be adopted at EU and national levels which obliges Member States to collect and publish hate-crime data.

It says that law-makers should also consider enhanced penalties for hate crimes to stress the severity of the offences and that courts rendering judgments should address bias motivations publicly - making it clear that they lead to harsher sentences.

Morten Kjaerum is director of the FRA. 

"Hate crimes create an ‘us and them’ mentality that does tremendous psychological damage" he said.

"They undermine the basic democratic tenets of equality and non-discrimination. Hate crimes thus harm not only the victim, but also other people belonging to the same group - many of whom are terrified that they will become the next target, and society as a whole". 

"To counter this, the EU and its Member States need to ensure both that such crimes are made visible, and that offenders are made to answer for the damage they have done" he added.