Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I hope Mr. O'Connor is wrong, because if we do not have a hope until we get those ratios down to where he wants them to be, we are in a bleak situation.

I believe Mr. Arneill mentioned that the poor level of peer intervention among Irish children and teens when they are witness to bullying has been found to be the most resistant to change and will require particular attention. That is the whole thing about helping people to up standards. However, what if that cannot be changed? What if that is part of the reality of human nature, which I suspect it is? The history of the human race is that most people are slow to stand up and call out injustice.

If I am right, part of the answer is we need more focus on building resilience. By resilience I mean two things. First is the need to help a child to understand what is happening. That is into the area of restorative justice and bringing people together to understand processes and helping people to understand the person who is suffering bullying. Second, it is about moving away from the idea that someone is a victim and more to an idea that that person is the agent of positive change. That takes considerable work. Is that focus on resilience important? I would have the fear - I believe many people would - that it might be very difficult to change that poor level of intervention, as Mr. Arneill described it. Mr. Arneill may want to come in to respond to that. I have a second brief question.