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The legal system needs to be overhauled so that it can effectively deal with racially motivated crime, according to a new report.

The "Combating Racism and Xenophobia through the Criminal Law" report also calls on judges to impose tougher sentences on those who commit racist crimes.

The study's authors, Jennifer Schweppe and Dermot Walsh of the Centre for Criminal Justice, University of Limerick, said that current law is not wholly suitable for dealing with racism.

The report said the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989 should be updated to include racism on the internet. It also called for Public Order and Offences against the Person Acts to be used as a means of prosecuting racist incidents.

The publication of an annual Garda report on the level of racist crimes in Ireland is among the other recommendations included in the study.

Launching the report this morning, chairperson of the National Action Plan Against Racism, Lucy Gaffney, said that while official statistics suggest low levels of racially motivated crime in Ireland relative to other EU countries, there is a clear upward trend of incidents of racism in the country.

"With 420,000 foreign nationals now living, working and raising families in communities the length and breadth of Ireland, we must ensure that our criminal justice system is sufficiently robust and that our laws are rigorous enough to protect them against crimes where racism is a factor," said Ms Gaffney.

"While the criminal justice system should only be used as a last resort for combating racism, there needs to be a major programme of education among the Gardaí, the judiciary, and all those working in the administration of justice to make them aware of the scope and potential of existing Irish law to deal with racism," she added.

In 2007 there were 180 incidents of racism reported to the Gardaí, up from 66 in 2004. However, it is believed that many racial incidents go unreported.