Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Tá lúcháir orm go bhfuil an deis seo againn díospóireacht a bheith againn ar an ábhar seo sa Teach inniu. Cuireann an fhadhb seo isteach ar go leor daoine, ní hamháin sa chóras oideachais ach san earnáil fostaíochta freisin. Baineann sé le gach gné den saol. The debate we are having today is a very important one but debates such as this often go unrecognised in the Houses of the Oireachtas. Bullying affects people in many different ways. It affects people from all walks of life and is prevalent in the education system, the workplace and sometimes within families. It is important that we recognise and deal with this issue by developing new policies and by introducing legislation, where necessary.

Bullying occurs where the behaviour of one person has a negative impact on another. Before today's debate I was reading up on various definitions or classifications of bullying and found an interesting one from a Norwegian researcher named Dan Olweus.

He defines bullying as when a person is "exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more other persons", and he defines negative action as "when a person intentionally inflicts injury or discomfort upon another person, through physical contact, through words or in other ways". That leads me on to welcoming the Minister's publication, The Anti-Bullying Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools, which encompasses Dan Olweus's definitions.

The publication comes at an opportune time when the consequences of bullying have become a stark reality for many young people in educational settings, whether at primary, secondary or third level, although the policy only covers the former two. I am very much aware of the cases in my County Donegal constituency that have been mentioned. I know the families involved, so I know what occurred. Young Erin Gallagher, who was 13 years old at the time, and her sister Shannon, who was 15, were taken from this life because of online bullying or cyberbullying as it is commonly referred to. That was very difficult for the families concerned. The bullying obviously evolved over time. If the procedures that are outlined in the publication were in place, could their deaths have been prevented? We do not know, but my firm view is that it certainly could have helped.

Primary and secondary schools have an obligation to consult parents about and to outline and implement what is in the publication in as fast a timeframe as possible. Will it solve all the problems? Probably not. Is there a way to solve all the problems? Probably not. Is there a way to deal with cyberbullying? Probably not, but steps must be taken to eliminate, as far as possible, the consequences of cyberbullying. I remember professionals from the Health Service Executive and the educational sphere talking at the time about the incidents in Donegal and the other incident, too.

The Internet is a huge place, and 54% of all surfing in Ireland is done by the young and not so young on mobile phones. Everyone has a mobile phone. Indeed, every kid has a mobile phone at school, most of which are equipped with Internet capabilities, so the kids are not only carrying that capability around, but talking about it and being exposed to it right through the school and even beyond. Therefore, protocols must be put in place. However, no one government or country can do that without a link-up system being put in place across the globe involving every government and other type of organisation.

The publication is a great step in the right direction, and I commend the Minister and the Department on their action. We now need to see that followed through, which will involve the schools and the management boards stepping up to the plate and putting in place the procedures as quickly as possible. In particular, the Health Service Executive and social workers need to play a more active role. I do not place the blame on a lack of resources when I say that, but there must be radical, out-of-the-box thinking by healthcare workers across the spectrum on the systems that are in place. It has been proven to be the case that a social work support system cannot be operated on a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. basis because when an individual who has a particular need or wants to speak to someone but it is after 5 p.m., the support is not there. It is unacceptable that the systems are in place but the service is not available. Changing that will involve cross-Department and interdepartmental work.

I welcome the initiative and the importance of having this debate not only today but in six months time so that we see how the recommendations in the report have been implemented on the ground. A group of children in the Killygordon and Crossroads youth club, which is in my constituency, came together to write a report with recommendations, which some 6,000 people living in Donegal signed, and sent it to the Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions to ask it to make recommendations on this issue to the Seanad and the Dáil and, by extension, the Government. Most of the recommendations in the youth club's report have been dealt with in the Minister's report, which I welcome.

I am not sure whether we have had a detailed discussion previously in the Seanad or the Dáil on bullying in education. I am not aware that we have; I certainly have not contributed to one, so I welcome that we are debating the issue today. Fianna Fáil will certainly support the Government every step of the way. No one should play politics with this issue and we should all work together on it.