Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 January 2013
286. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the total number of incidents of school bullying including cyber bullying reported to his Department through the primary and/or post-primary sectors in each of the past three years to date; the extent to which it has been found possible to address the issue to date; his plans for the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3127/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraIndividual school management authorities are not required to report incidents of bullying to my Department. Accordingly, the information requested by the Deputy is not available in my Department. I am fully aware of the seriousness of the issue of bullying and it was for that reason that an Anti-Bullying Forum was held in May this year. The Deputy will be aware that as a follow on to that Forum, I invited the stakeholders and any other interested parties to submit their views on this important topic to my Department by 29th June 2012. As part of this consultation, interested parties were requested to indicate their views and proposals on any changes to existing practices and policies in schools that could improve how bullying can be tackled in schools. I have also established a working group to address the issue of tackling bullying in schools, including cyber-bullying. During the course of its work, the working group has been considering the outcomes from the Anti-Bullying Forum together with the submissions received. Over the last few months, the working group has been consulting with a range of stakeholders and with counterparts in Scotland and the UK. The Group is working on an action plan recommending further measures that can be taken to effectively tackle bullying, including cyber bullying, in schools. I am pleased to say that I will be publishing the Working Group's report shortly along with my response to the proposals in the report.
