Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 7 March 2013
10. Deputy Michael Colreavy asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will respond to the latest findings from the 25 country EU Kids Online survey that claims that Irish children suffer the effects of cyber-bullying for longer than those in other EU countries; and his views on whether the Watch our Space action plan to combat cyber bullying and other measures designed to combat this issue should be enshrined in legislation. [11752/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy is probably aware, on 29 January last, the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald and I published the action plan on bullying which sets out 12 actions to help prevent and tackle bullying in primary and second level schools. I have ring-fenced €500,000 to support implementation of these actions this year. Central to promoting safer use of the Internet by young people is a strong commitment to changing behaviour and raising the knowledge, skills and attitudes around preventing, responding to and reporting cyber bullying incidents. Several actions in the action plan on bullying will increase capacity in these areas. One element of the action plan is the Watch Your Space media campaign, which I launched as part of Safer Internet Day. In terms of further legislation, the anti-bullying working group considered this issue and recommended that priority should be given, in the first instance, to implementing the actions proposed in the action plan and I have accepted their recommendation.
I am not sure if the Minister is familiar with the EU kids on-line survey quoted in the question and some of the statistics arising therefrom. It showed that 14% of children in Ireland aged between nine and 16 felt the effects of bullying for about two months after the incident occurred, compared to the European average of about 2%. In itself, that figure is a shocking statistic. I acknowledge that the Minister has brought forward the action plan on bullying, which contains some good measures, and we welcomed it at the time. A media campaign, Watch Your Space was launched recently and another, Connect with Respect, will be implemented in partnership with the Garda who will go into the schools and speak to students on the dangers of the Internet and the effects of cyber bullying.
The Minister mentioned that the group who looked at the whole area of bullying did not prioritise the introduction of new legislation. Most EU countries that are regarded as the leaders in anti-bullying have a background in legislation. They put the building blocks on the Statute Book and build on them. That is an issue we need to look at again. As part of implementation of the action plan is there any element that will continually consider the possibility of introducing legislation?
While I appreciate we are all on the same side on this issue, I ask Members to have regard to what progress has been made. The last set of guidelines on bullying in the Department which we built upon and considerably modernised were drawn up in 1993. There was no reference to homophobic bullying whatsoever in those guidelines as it was not part and parcel of the landscape in terms of recognising there were such issues around that whole agenda, with which we are now sadly very familiar. The actions we have taken on bullying since last May are, by any measure, much more substantial than anything that has gone before. That, combined with the mental health well-being guidelines published recently, throws a light of focus on an area that all of us in society - this is not a party partisan observation - either ignored or did not listen to carefully enough. We have had a few tragic suicides that have caught the imagination in a very emotional way and have brought home how real the problem is. A background note supplied to me states that bullying behaviour is a complex social issue and as the action plan on bullying highlights, it can happen in many different settings. Research shows that there is no single action which will produce significant or sustainable change. Complementary initiatives are required which target teachers, parents, children and young people. This is the approach we are pursuing in the action plan on bullying. As the anti-bullying working group suggested, the need for further legislation can be addressed once the actions of the action plan have been implemented.
In summary, let us implement it. If it throws up the need in a particular way for legislative measures, then I will bring forward those legislative measures. It is too soon at this stage to sit down and start to design them when we have not yet seen the reaction of the action plan.
I thank the Minister for not ruling out the possibility of introducing legislation once we have seen the implementation of the action plan. The Minister spoke about homophobic bullying and transphobic bullying. I commend him on sponsoring the Stand Up campaign which, I understand, he launched last night.
I thank the Deputy.
It is a welcome initiative. If we are serious about the issue we need to look at section 37, which I presume the Department is doing. Has the Minister any plans to bring forward legislation to correct that situation?
The Parliamentary Labour Party agreed yesterday in a Private Members' legislative initiative, similar to what the Deputy has brought forward and similar to what Senator Averil Power has brought forward, that it will, I understand, be taken in the Private Members' slot in the Seanad on 12 March. I hope it will progress from there. The legislation needs to be changed fairly soon. It is a commitment in the programme for Government. There is cross-party support for it. We will debate the components of the Bill as it comes through both Houses but I want to get it on the Statute Book as quickly as possible.
Does the Minister expect it to progress and that it will get the support of the Government?
I expect so.
