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Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 16 Apr 2013

Vol. 799 No. 1

Priority Questions

Child Care Costs

Robert Troy

Question:

109. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the action she is taking to make child care more affordable here; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17522/13]

I thank Deputy Troy. Since becoming Minister, I have sought, notwithstanding the severe financial constraints faced by the Government, to maintain and increase my Department's investment in early years and child care support programmes. In the budget for 2012, I secured an additional funding requirement of nearly €9.8 million to meet increased demographic pressures and to protect the universality of the preschool year, which is a key programme for Government commitment.

In budget 2013, my colleague, the Minister for Social Protection, and I announced a new €14 million after-school care programme. This will provide important support to parents in low income families wishing to take up employment and ensure that some 6,000 quality after-school care places are provided to support children's development. In addition, I announced a new area-based approach to early intervention and addressing child poverty, including a focus on child care provision.

As the Deputy knows, there are two further child care support programmes, those being, the community child care subvention, CCS, and the child care education and training support, CETS, for those attending education and training. There is also the universal early childhood care and education, ECCE, programme. The CCS programme gives money to many community-based child care services to enable them to provide child care at reduced rates to parents who are in receipt of social welfare payments or are on low incomes. The CETS programme provides €145 towards the weekly cost of full-time child care places to participating child care services in the community and commercial sectors for qualifying trainees and students. Students on part-time courses are funded on a pro rata basis.

In 2013, my Department's total expenditure on child care will be approximately €260 million. This represents a significant investment in supporting parents with the cost of child care.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

With respect to future developments, I have indicated my objective numerous times to seek to introduce a second free preschool year, which would represent an equivalent saving of approximately €3,000 in child care costs for parents, as well as contribute to improved educational and developmental outcomes for children. However, any development that involves further preschool provision would require considerable additional funding.

The reality is that this country has a poor record in developing an architecture for quality, affordable child care provision. Of the total so-called child care spend since 2000, more than 60% has been on bricks and mortar or direct cash payments to parents, with less than 40% spent on developing an effective system of quality, affordable child care provision. In the coming years, I hope that we will be in a position to address this legacy through increased investment as the economic and budgetary situation improves.

As a building block towards a possible second free preschool year, my Department is continuing to work on and invest in improving quality standards and workforce capacity. Future developments relating to early years care and education will be considered during preparation of the new national early years strategy, which is being developed by my Department and will be published later this year.

I thank the Minister for her reply. It is fair to say that child care services are not a luxury; they are an essential public good. According on an OECD report, in this country, unfortunately, working families on an average wage spend 45% of their monthly income on child care costs, while the EU average is 15%. As a country we spend 0.4% of GDP on child care, while the European average is 0.7%. In Scandinavia, the level of expenditure increases to 1.4%.

Families are struggling. They pay full-time child care fees of approximately €1,000 per month. Any families watching the “Prime Time” report recently would not have got a sense from the Minister that she has a plan to tackle the issue. On the “Prime Time” programme in question she indicated that she hoped to introduce a second free preschool year in two years’ time. Preschool care involves three hours a day, five days a week. That will not tackle child care costs. What does the Minister intend to do to ensure we have quality, affordable child care that will allow men and women to go to work if they so wish?

This situation did not develop overnight. Let us look at what happened in the past 12 years in terms of investment in child care. Of the money invested in child care, 60% went into bricks and mortar, 40% went on direct payment to parents and there was little focus in recent years on building up precisely what Deputy Troy describes, namely, an affordable child care service for parents across the spectrum. The reason parents are paying so much for child care is because there has not been a policy of subsidising child care. There has been a focus on direct cash payments. There has not been a willingness by the State to subsidise child care for the very parents to whom Deputy Troy refers.

I agree with Deputy Troy that it is not the case that those working in child care are being paid huge wages or that the vast majority of child care services are overcharging - they are not. In order to change the situation Deputy Troy describes, more investment by the State will be required. As growth returns to the economy I would like to see the introduction of subsidised child care that will reduce the current heavy costs on parents. I am working towards that aim. I am taking an incremental approach to bring about the kind of changes to which I have referred.

If we brought in a second free preschool year it would save parents approximately €4,000 a year even though it does not involve full day care. That would be a substantial contribution to parents. Of equal importance is the provision of after-school care. It is important to maintain the free preschool year, which is also helping parents, at a time of economic difficulty. It is clear that we cannot implement a new system overnight to replicate what we see in other countries as the cost would be prohibitive, but it remains a goal of my Department to make child care more accessible and more affordable for more parents in this country.

I acknowledge we are in stringent times but child care is an essential public good. The Minister must make it a priority within the Department. She rightly referred to the vast increase in direct payments over the previous ten or 12 years. In a national newspaper article after Christmas the Minister mooted the idea of reallocating a proportion of expenditure from direct payment to child care services. Has such a debate been had at Cabinet level or is it a policy direction which the Minister intends to pursue?

I am sure Deputy Troy will agree that many parents out there are finding times very difficult and the cash payments are incredibly important to them, obviously. The point I was making regarding the spend was to explain that we do not have more accessible and affordable child care because the money is going on those cash payments. In terms of the future direction and where the money will be found, we would have to consider very carefully any changes to cash payments because families are very reliant on them. That is the reality. That is why the incremental approach I am suggesting with regard to the second free preschool year is realistic, at present. However, as soon as there is more economic growth, I agree with the Deputy that this should be a priority area for us as a society and for this Government. We must examine, as carefully and comprehensively as we can, ways in which we can improve the situation in this country so that we have more affordable and accessible child care. Building up the infrastructure that would allow that is extremely costly and that is why I am outlining the various steps we are taking towards that goal.

The physical infrastructure is in place.

We will certainly be examining this in the context of budget discussions for 2014.

Child and Family Agency Establishment

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin

Question:

110. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will clarify the factual position regarding the now anticipated official commencement of operations by the child and family support agency; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17434/13]

Work is well advanced on the establishment of the new child and family agency. Last week, as part of the ongoing preparatory work, the Government approved, on my recommendation, the appointment of Ms Norah Gibbons as first chairperson of the board of the agency. Ms Gibbons has proven herself to be a true champion for reform of children’s services and one of Ireland's leading advocates for children. I believe she will bring great enthusiasm and experience to this new role. In preparation for the formal establishment of the new agency it is my intention to appoint Ms Gibbons as chair of the existing Family Support Agency, one of the constituent bodies to be merged into the child and family agency. In line with the practice established by this Government, Ms Gibbons will appear before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children in advance of her taking up her position. I wish her every success and look forward to many positive and productive engagements with her.

I also intend to publicly seek expressions of interest through the www.publicjobs.ie website for the remaining members of the Family Support Agency board. The selection of these board members will reflect the enhanced role being given to this board in overseeing, on an administrative basis, the governance and organisational preparations for the new agency.

Drafting of the legislation to establish the agency is progressing well in conjunction with the Office of Parliamentary Counsel. Work is at an advanced stage and I expect to receive the draft legislation very shortly and to bring the content to Government for approval prior to publication. This will happen during this Dáil term. It is very comprehensive legislation, providing as it does for the subsuming of functions from three separate agencies, namely, the HSE, the Family Support Agency and the National Educational Welfare Board, and reassigning, under law, the sensitive and complex legal responsibilities which arise with regard to the care and protection of children and the promotion of their welfare. I intend to provide adequate time for consultation on this important legislation, both within this House and with stakeholders.

I join the Minister in wishing Ms Norah Gibbons every success in her new role and responsibilities. I welcome her appointment.

The Minister used the phrase "this Dáil term" with reference to the legislation. However, one of her Cabinet colleagues, the Minister for Health, Deputy James Reilly, also used that phrase in response to questions I posed to him on a different matter, that is, the White Paper on universal health insurance. I asked him, because this response was coming back, what he actually meant by "this Dáil term". He said he understood it to mean the lifetime of the current Dáil, that is, a five-year period of time. That exchange is on the record of the House. Language is so important in establishing clarity. I would say "this Dáil session", perhaps, might better indicate what I hope is the Minister's intention.

I have tabled this question again, not because I want to do this month on month and to harangue the Minister with regard to the child and family agency but because I wish to share with her the fact that I attended the HSE Dublin north-east regional service plan briefing on Friday, 8 March in Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown.

During the course of the briefing, which was also attended by other colleagues and representatives of all parties, it was indicated to us by the regional manager at the time - just over a month ago - that the agency would be in situ by January next year. I had hoped it would be in situ by January this year, and as we know that was the anticipated commencement time. There was an expectation of seeing the new agency up and running.
Will the Minister clarify the matter absolutely, as sought in the question? There may be issues of drafting and a myriad of other issues but we know the establishment will be the single biggest change in Departments. The new agency will have over 4,000 staff and we are not at all beyond understanding the big challenge involved but we need to know for sure how it will happen. Rather than a piecemeal approach, it would be better to advise whether Mr. Mulvany's indication has validity or if there is expectation of earlier action.
Members of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children have been lobbied by those concerned about child and adolescent mental health services so what is the position with regard to psychologists and the possible transfer from an existing arrangement within the HSE? These professionals may be removed from their cohorts to the new agency and department. Will the Minister give a brief indication of the position of public health nurses, as nurses where I come from have a very different range of roles and responsibilities in reality than those operating within the larger urban areas?

It is a very long question.

The answer to the Deputy's first question is "the current Dáil term". We are not talking about the next number of years.

It will be before the summer.

Yes, it will be within the current Dáil term. The legislation is very close to finalisation. It is an enormous Bill and I want to be absolutely sure that all the preparatory work is done. I know the Deputy is aware that much work is ongoing in setting up the agency and it is not that we are just waiting for legislation and nothing else is happening. I will set a precise date for the establishment of the agency when we bring legislation to the House and pending discussion in the Dáil and the Seanad. I have been in touch with the offices of Deputies Ó Caoláin and Troy to offer a more detailed briefing on setting up the agency. There will also be an opportunity in Friday's committee meeting for me to spell out in more detail precisely what is happening at this stage.

It is a significant transformation and a big priority for the Government. All of the necessary organisational changes are continuing while we await changes, and the scale of changes is considerable. We must be very careful and prepare extremely well in this regard. One example of an area where good progress is being made but where we have much work is in developing the financial procedures and accounting required for a major public body like the child and family agency. We have to build new financial systems to deal on a national level with some of the issues currently dealt with locally. I pay tribute to the Secretary General of my Department, Mr. Jim Breslin, who has done much work in preparing for the establishment of the agency, as well as Mr. Gordon Jeyes.

Over 100 reforms are in motion to change the way in which various issues are dealt with and I would be very happy to speak about them in more detail. For example, there will be reorganisation of residential centres into a national service under a single national manager. There will also be a review of case loads and reformation of the interface with the courts system. Given the cost of court cases and child care, Mr. Jeyes has been doing much work in that regard.

Intense work is also being done within the HSE by Gordon Jeyes and the new management team, and by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, in preparation not just for the legislation but for all of the organisational changes. The legislation will be before the Dáil during this term and I expect to be in a position to introduce in the Bill to establish the agency in the next couple of weeks.

On the question of the psychiatrists, the Minister is fully aware of the concerns on paper and knows from listening to the oral case presented that there is a basis for that concern that must be addressed, measured and evaluated and a decision reached. Can the Minister indicate where this process is at present? Also, what is the situation with the public health nurses?

I will not go over the details here - the Deputy has heard me speak before about the precise services transferring at present. Deputy Ó Caoláin supports the principle, as does Deputy Troy, that the new agency should not just be a child protection agency but should be concerned with family support and early intervention. If that is to be the reality, a range of services must be available to families at an early stage. It was clear from the child death report that some families did not have that. That is where the question of psychology comes in.

There has been a meeting of the working group and I have just received its report. I will study it and discuss with my colleagues in the Department of Health the precise arrangements that will be put in place for psychologists. It is important that professionals are open to the establishment of a new agency and the vision it wants to deliver for children. I ask all professional groups to show flexibility on ensuring children have access to those services. I have met representatives of the psychologists and I understand their concerns. Equally, I understand that if the new agency is to be a success, we need a range of services, such as psychologists and public health nurses, to be available in the first instance from the agency. I ask for the Deputy's support on that because it is vital a broad range of services are available in the new agency.

Many of the public health nurses are very keen to work with the agency. During its initial development, we selected the groups that had already been identified and it was envisaged services currently delivered to families by public health nurses would be considered, just at a later stage. We must consider various ways in which those services can be provided through the agency but that is an medium-term objective for the arrangements we must make.

Before I call the next question, I remind Deputies there are two minutes for a Minister's reply and four minutes for supplementary questions and replies.

Youth Services Provision

Joan Collins

Question:

111. Deputy Joan Collins asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will reverse the proposed cuts to youth projects and services via the City of Dublin Youth Services Board, CDYSB, in view of the importance of services to disadvantaged areas. [17521/13]

In 2013, my Department will provide some €53.173 million to support the provision of youth services and programmes to young people throughout the country including those from disadvantaged communities. This funding will support youth work programmes and youth services serving some 400,000 young people, delivered by over 1,400 youth work personnel, who in turn support a large volunteer base of some 40,000.

The comprehensive review of expenditure, CRE, published in December 2011 sets out clearly the savings required from the Department of Children and Youth Affairs in each of the years 2012, 2013 and 2014. The CRE contains a detailed seven page chapter outlining savings required from youth work funding. The CRE requires a 10% saving in 2013, with a lesser saving in 2014. The review further provided that there were no reductions in 2012 or 2013 in funding for the local youth club grant scheme which provides funding to volunteer-led youth clubs and groups throughout the country.

The Department has tried to be as equitable as possible. We discussed already the budgets for child care and early intervention. A huge part of the departmental budget goes on protecting those services and ensuring they continue as they are and that they develop. Funding provided by the Department to support youth projects in the Dublin city area is administered by the City of Dublin Youth Services Board.

In February the board submitted a proposal which was different to that outlined in the CRE. It suggested some reductions of up to 14%. In the majority of the projects the reductions were in the range of 2% to 5% but it stated some larger projects with bigger budgets should take a reduction of 14%.

When I examined those proposals and when my Department considered them, we stated that any proposals for funding cuts in excess of 10% - those up to 14% - would not be acceptable and that they should be reduced. We certainly did not want any project being cut by more than 10%. Revised proposals were submitted to my Department. That means that the cutbacks that were originally intended by the CDYSB of up to 14% have been reduced to 10%.

As I stated earlier here at a previous Question Time, we also are looking at funding overall and looking at a value-for-money review of youth funding generally.

The Minister will be aware that these youth services were put into the most disadvantaged areas of the country. That has not gone away, it has got worse. In the question I asked the Minister to reverse the cuts. I have been at meetings in The Base in Ballyfermot, the Cherry Orchard Integrated Youth Service and Ballyfermot Youth Services, and this applies right across the board in all other areas. The youth services are being cut, from 60 youth services down to 45.

Further cuts, we are told, will have a drastic effect on the service that these projects can provide for our youth. Early intervention prevents possible police contact, dropouts from school, etc. Those involved in these projects say they cannot take any more. They are cut to the bone. The 10% cut is too much. The 6% cut is too much. They have been cut by nearly 30% in the past five years, by the previous Government and this Government. There has been no change in policy to ring-fence these services and that is what is needed.

At a community policing forum in Crumlin recently, the cuts in youth services was debated. The police stated they were having difficulty in linking in and getting the service they needed in the area, and there was general agreement from the superintendent and the forum itself that a letter be written to the Minister stating that there should be no more cuts in the youth services.

The Government states €1 billion has been saved from the promissory note. Why not use some of that funding to ring-fence these services that are crucial in the area? There are certain areas that should not be cut and this is one such area.

I am pleased that we have been able to keep 90% of the funding in those services.

I take the Deputy's point regarding the challenges faced by some of the services. Cherry Orchard, which she mentioned, gets €297,488 and it has been asked to make a 2% saving. The Base, with a budget of nearly €393,000, has been asked to make a 10% saving. I appreciate this is challenging but in terms of the ongoing delivery of services, the CDYSB, which has analysed the position and has spoken to the providers of these services, has assured me that it will re-examine the position if there is a question of front-line services being seriously affected. My Department is engaged in a discussion with a number of youth clubs and organisations where there was a question that a service might not continue and I am open to discussion on particular services. I am happy to ask the CDYSB to re-examine if there is a serious threat to front-line services.

There has been no cutback in Garda diversion programmes, for example. The Garda is telling Deputy Collins that in terms of liaison with youth services, it is having some difficulties. I would want to know about those. To reassure the Deputy, even in her own constituency, in many of the youth funded projects the savings have been of the order of, for the most part, 5% and 2%. As I stated, the larger youth services have been asked to take the 10% cut because they have larger budgets and it was hoped that they would be able to deal with it.

I would prefer not to be doing this. I look forward to having growth again so that we can support this valuable work. Even in instances where there is currently a question of a 10% cutback, the CDYSB can examine the precise implications and how the particular service is dealing with that funding requirement.

The Minister is saying the budget she has is challenging, but the situation of the youth services is also challenging. They have advised they cannot deliver the services required with these cuts. It is as simple as that. It will cut into front-line services. At the end of 2011 Cherry Orchard Integrated Youth Service lost a staff member through voluntary redundancy. It has had a reduction of €30,000 in funding since 2012, a further 6% reduction in 2013 and even the 2% will impact on it. The base has advised it cannot take any more such hits. The youth services cannot take any more cuts. Why does the Government not have a policy of ring-fencing the money for these services? It is not good enough to say that the Department has a challenging situation. These organisations work in the community and claim they will not be able to deliver those services if there are any future cuts. They have been cut for five years and cannot take any more. That is what needs to be done.

I appreciate the Deputy's support for this work. However, many of my ministerial colleagues have to take decisions about services they would prefer not to have to take. I am also in that position. That is the reality of the financial situation we face at present.

We were told that we saved €1 billion from the promissory note being pushed back. Why is that not being used?

We are almost out of time.

As with other Departments I must ask services to reform and manage on less. I pay tribute to the work being done. CDYSB can engage in discussions with the organisations the Deputy has mentioned to examine the precise impact. It has assured me that it has had discussions and that the higher cutbacks are being demanded in those organisations that have received the biggest funding and which, it is hoped, will be able to manage those resources with least impact on front-line services.

Legislative Programme

Robert Troy

Question:

112. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the legislation she will introduce between now and the summer recess; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17523/13]

As I said in response to a previous question, the legislative priorities for this Dáil session are to introduce the child and family agency Bill, which is substantial legislation taking up a considerable amount of time and resources in my Department, and to finalise a revised general scheme and heads for the Children First Bill.

Drafting of the legislation to establish the child and family agency is progressing and the work is at an advanced stage. It will be brought to Government shortly for approval prior to publication. That will ensure we have the new agency under way and fulfil the Government commitment to establish a dedicated agency. It is a very complicated Bill bringing together the three agencies as I have outlined. I want to allow adequate time for consultation within this House and with stakeholders.

We have been examining the report of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children on the Children First Bill and many operational and legal issues arise from the committee’s work. The committee suggested there should be as much consistency as possible between the Children First Bill and other recent legislation, including the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012, which was passed by the Oireachtas in December. I have recently completed consultations with key experts in the child welfare and protection area on the Children First Bill. I held a consultation process after the committee completed its work and I held a further one recently. My Department has also liaised closely with officials in the Department of Justice and Equality, particularly those responsible for the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act. Officials are refining the proposed policy approach for submission to Government shortly. This will involve revision of the general scheme and heads of Bill and referral to the Office of Parliamentary Counsel for drafting.

I welcome the Minister's confirmation, but both Bills have been promised repeatedly. The child and family support agency Bill was to be with us before Christmas, as was the Children First legislation. Both Bills were in section A of the Government's spring legislative programme and again the Minister is saying they will be dealt with during this term. She will forgive me if I am somewhat sceptical. I appreciate that both Bills are vast and need considerable time. To be fair, we have had many promises but little delivery with regard to this legislation.

A question please Deputy.

The lack of progress, in particular with regard to the Children First legislation, leaves children vulnerable. Only yesterday a report in The Irish Times cited a 20% increase in the number of care orders in the past year. There is a concern that the absence of the Children First legislation means we do not have a proper framework for reporting with regard to child protection. The Minister stated with regard to the Children First Bill that NGOs and experts are being consulted. Will Members of the Oireachtas be consulted before the revised heads of the Bill are published? I would like to think we will.

I welcome that Norah Gibbons has been appointed to the child and family support agency. She is very well suited and has renowned skills in the area and this is not to be questioned. However, it seems unreasonable to appoint a chairperson to a board for which legislation has not yet been formed. Why is the word "support" being dropped from the agency's title? I understand it will now be known as the child and family agency. Is this because the emphasis will not be on family support?

I assure the Deputy that much work has been done on both pieces of legislation. I have already outlined clearly how much work has been done with regard to the child and family agency, at an organisational level and into drafting the legislation. The legislation will have more than 100 heads and is extremely complex. The Attorney General and Parliamentary Counsel have been doing much work on it along with the Department. We will have it during this Dáil term.

With regard to Children First, I have outlined the issues which have arisen. We received a very complex 600 page report from the committee. With regard to children being at risk at present, I want to make it very clear that the Children First guidelines are in operation and very clear guidance is being given with regard to assessing cases when they come to the child protection teams. For the first time HIQA is examining child protection standards, which I welcome, and I understand four reports have been done. The reports we receive in the coming weeks and months will give a precise picture of what is happening in child protection teams throughout the country. I do not underestimate the scale of the challenges facing these teams but it should be helped by the fact that extra social workers are now in place and HIQA is pointing out very clearly the areas where improvement is needed as well as those areas working well.

With regard to the name of the agency, it was felt it would be less confusing to leave out the word "support" as this could be misunderstood with regard to the Department of Social Protection. This is the only reason. As I already stated, family support is very important and goes hand in hand with child protection.

I also welcome the fact that HIQA is now conducting investigations. It is very important. We have had four reports, one of which unfortunately highlighted vast areas of improvement required in the north-west Dublin area. It is to be welcomed that this has been identified and I hope serious action is being taken in this regard.

Members of the Oireachtas have not had an opportunity to feed into the new child and family agency with regard to the heads of the Bill. In an earlier reply to my colleague, the Minister stated her office will contact us and I welcome this. Is the legal action with regard to the validity of the children's referendum impinging on the Department's ability to bring forward this much promised and important legislation? The original heads of the Children First Bill were published on 25 April 2012, which is almost 12 months ago. There has been an unnecessary delay.

I assure the Deputy that a very significant amount of work has been done with regard to Children First and the agency, and this work is ongoing.

Those are two priority Bills for us and we are working on them. I have already explained that I am linking with the Department of Justice and Equality on the Children First legislation and ensuring coherence between the Vetting Bill and the Children First legislation. There are many issues involved including asking organisations to have complex responses on how to be ready to implement Children First on a statutory basis. For example, the question has arisen about the size of the organisation that will have to fulfil those conditions. It has taken an awful lot of work to begin to tease that out.

My own office has been in contact with Deputy Troy and Deputy Ó Caoláin to offer consultation and I am happy to include the Children First legislation in that consultation. We will be discussing it on Friday also.

Bullying in Schools

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin

Question:

113. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she and her Department have received any report or feedback from the Department of Education and Skills on the reception of or reaction to the publication of the action plan on bullying by school principals or teachers; if during the almost three months since its publication any further consideration has been given to its proactive promotion; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17435/13]

The implementation of the action plan on bullying, which is being led by the Department of Education and Skills, is an important step in the Government’s absolute commitment to working with a broad base of interests to protect children and ensure a safer childhood.

I understand that the plan has been well received by the education partners, including school management bodies, teacher unions, principals’ groups and parent representative groups. It has been welcomed publicly by a number of these key stakeholders. My own daily contact with organisations and young people and their families throughout the country suggests a positive response to the need for this strategic focus. The results from the recent UNICEF report were quite disturbing concerning the levels of bullying here, although Ireland fared well on other criteria.

The actions set out in the action plan are being progressed. To successfully tackle the underlying causes of bullying behaviour we must ensure all relevant policies and services are fully engaged with this agenda. It is not a stand-alone issue. For example, initiatives such as the new Well-being in Post-Primary Schools: Guidelines for Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention, are addressing the issue of bullying in schools. As the Deputy may know, an additional €500,000 has been allocated to the education Vote to supplement the existing resources within the system dedicated to the welfare of our young people.

Since the action plan was published a number of initiatives have been rolled out. The first campaign was launched as part of EU safer Internet day in February and the Government supported a national anti-cyber bullying media campaign specifically targeted at young people. The second campaign, which I launched on 6 March, was the "Stand Up!" awareness week against homophobic bullying in second level schools. That was organised by BeLongTo youth services and was a key action point of the plan.

I have to interrupt the Minister.

I was happy to be able to support the work of BeLongTo by increasing its resources for 2013 in order to do this type of work in its local groups throughout the country. The funding I have made available to those youth services will ensure that BeLongTo's local and regional work will continue. That is very much part of the action plan on bullying.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

Although schools have a lead role in tackling bullying the plan recognises the need to have a broader approach recognising that bullying is no longer limited to classrooms. This means making sure that wherever young people are, they are protected by safety guidelines and supported by an anti-bullying ethos and an anti-bullying framework.

The development of an anti-bullying framework is being prioritised in the context the new whole of Government children and young people’s policy framework. This work is being led by my Department with a view to publication later this year.

My Department is also working to place the Children First guidelines on a statutory footing. Within this process we will explore any additional clarifications that may be required to assist schools in their response to bullying.

I understand that work is also under way in the Department of Education and Skills on developing new anti-bullying procedures for schools in consultation with the education partners with a view to their introduction from next September. The Department will also be engaging with boards of management and parents in relation to co-ordinated training and resources development and will this year develop an evaluation of bullying in schools, which will be carried out by the schools inspectorate from 2014.

The action plan itself provides for a number of awareness raising measures, including the development of an anti-bullying website to provide a single point of access to practical advice and support in tackling and reporting bullying behaviours. Preliminary scoping work is underway in the Department of Education and Skills towards this development.

Organisations and schools throughout the country are running anti-bullying campaigns and transition year students continue to pioneer student-led projects aimed at combating bullying and cyber-bullying. My Department will continue to support the efforts of these projects and of teenagers who want to play a leading role in the national campaign against bullying.

Corporations are also playing their part. I recently organised a number of information nights for parents, teachers and youth workers which were supported by Webwise and Facebook. IBM has just launched free activity kits on cyber bullying, online identity and Internet safety coaching. I hope that companies such as these will support the development of the Government website which will draw together information from various sources in a user-friendly one-stop-shop for parents, teachers, youth workers and teens.

The anti-bullying agenda is a recurring element in all our consultations with young people. Notably, the majority of the 34 Comhairle na nÓg initiatives funded by my Department have identified mental health services, cyber-bullying and homophobic bullying as priority issues for young people. In response, this has led to a number of targeted measures being adopted by service providers across the country.

In recognising the lead role of schools, the National Education Welfare Board has issued guidelines requiring each school to have dedicated policies to prevent or address bullying. Schools must make it clear in their code of behaviour that bullying is unacceptable.

This issue of bullying requires a whole of Government and whole of community approach. I am pleased to see national organisations such as Foróige and the GAA running anti-bullying campaigns that complement the work of Government Departments.

As Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, I am committed to working with my colleagues in Government, and other stakeholders, to ensure that integrated policy responses to combat bullying are high on our agenda.

The definition in the action plan states that bullying is not just about any kind of injury or negative impact, it involves a particular kind of harm. It is aimed at engendering a kind of helplessness or inability to act or do anything. I agree with that definition but it is also about the humiliation and subjugation of the target, which invariably has life-long consequences.

The scourge of bullying is not only as prevalent today as it was in my school years in the 1950s and 1960s, but I fear that it is even more in evidence now. I am greatly concerned about what we do not see or know because cyber-bullying can often be a hidden act. Lives are not only blighted and in some cases seriously impacted upon by school years' bullying but we also know - only too sadly - that some lives have been tragically lost.

I referred to school years' bullying as against school attendance bullying and there is more than a subtle difference.

It is important to recognise the school environment offers an important opportunity to address this scourge whether it occurs in the classroom, the schoolyard or any other setting - and invariably it does occur in other settings. While the Minister has responded to my question by advising there has been a good and positive response, I must tell her with some regret that in seeking to have matters addressed in this area, I have encountered a defensiveness and a reluctance to accept on the part of some senior educators. There almost is a sense that in some way this is a negative reflection on the school although no such thing is intended by me or anyone else in trying to have this dreadful scourge addressed. I believe more work is required and am fully supportive of the action plan of what is sought to be achieved by the Minister for Education and Skills with the support of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, as well as that of Members. However, I ask that the reality be faced up to. It is because it is not as bright or as certain as the Minister's reply suggests that I felt obliged to reflect this in the Chamber today and to ask the Minister to take this on board and to examine how it can be addressed.

I thank the Deputy. I do not underestimate the scale of the challenge. The Deputy has outlined how hidden bullying has been in the past and how facing up to it in schools, for example, can be quite challenging for them. A school sometimes may even feel ashamed it is happening in that school and this probably has been the traditional attitude, which is what we must change. Work is under way in the Department of Education and Skills on developing new anti-bullying procedures for schools in consultation with the education partners with a view to their introduction from September. I believe this will make a difference and that Department also will engage with the boards of management and parents on co-ordinating training and the resources needed by boards of management to create that greater understanding to which the Deputy referred and to give people the tools to deal with bullying in their schools. Moreover, the schools inspectorate will develop an evaluation of bullying in schools from 2014. There is a range of initiatives and the Deputy is familiar with the commitment of the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn, to dealing with this issue. He and I held the first stakeholder meeting with all the NGOs that are working in this area. Work also is under way in developing a single website that will contain all the details about who is working in this area. The Department of Education and Skills is leading on that initiative and my Department is contributing to it. Consequently, I accept the Deputy's point that this is an extremely serious issue. While there is perhaps more action and activity in challenging it now than ever before, I totally agree with the Deputy there is no room for complacency.

Members received a briefing in the AV room on this area towards the latter end of 2012, which was attended by a former school principal from a county neighbouring the city of Dublin, whose contribution was very informative. It demonstrated, which I fear may be the reality, that in the main it is down to the penchant of the principal and the other senior players within a respective school environment. This cannot be so, as challenging bullying must be a shared and accepted responsibility across the board because it is an integral part, in respect of those who are targeted and those who are carrying out this offensive behaviour, of preparing them all for life and must be seen within the overall context of that preparation. My own observations are that it is not as universally embraced as it needs to be and I therefore take this opportunity to advise the Minister of this and to encourage the greatest proactivity and the realisation of the warmest embrace possible of what must now be done.

I reiterate it is a scourge that destroys lives. It also undermines people's confidence and ability to learn and even to engage with life. I accept what the Deputy says. Many initiatives are needed to deal with it. The recent UNICEF report was very worrying as it highlighted very high levels of bullying in Ireland compared with some other countries. The guidelines issued by the National Educational Welfare Board that require each school to have dedicated policies to prevent or address bullying are important. Schools must make it clear in their codes of behaviour that bullying is unacceptable. However, what the Deputy is highlighting is the gap that can sometimes occur between the theory and the practice. We must ensure the practice lives up to what is outlined in our action plan and in the guidelines being issued to schools by the Department of Education and Skills. I believe there is greater awareness but there still is a great deal more work to be done.

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