Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is okay and I get what Ms Tansey said but this is not just about providing counselling services. This is about having somebody on site. The person does not have to be in the same school. If we take the example of a school in Enniscorthy, this person could be shared between three or four different schools, perhaps one big school and three or four smalls or whatever. Students would then feel they have somebody to go to on a confidential basis who they can absolutely trust. I know they trust the teacher, the principal and so on but teachers and principals are not there for that type of need, even though they are doing that job. The world has moved on and we must move on with it. We need something like what I was talking about where there is somebody on site whom students can trust and who can provide therapeutic supports. The people I am talking about, that is, the children who have not resettled back into school, do not have behavioural problems. If they did their parents might be happy. Instead these children have totally withdrawn into themselves. They do not want to go to school. They have not got the confidence to do it or to reconnect with their friends. They have not got the confidence to go back into the class and reconnect with their teacher. This is a huge problem. The Department can ignore this problem and maybe it will go away, Covid-19 will be blamed and everything like that. However, this problem is not going to go away. It is one that is here to stay and Covid-19 his highlighted this issue. I do not want to get stuck on that but I want to pass on my frustration about how things are with the situation.

Other members can come back in now but just before that I have one question. In previous meetings the committee has heard calls from several witnesses about the need to update the 2013 Action Plan on Bullying and the Anti-Bullying Procedures for Primary and Post Primary Schools published the same year. At the meeting on 15 June Professor James O'Higgins Norman of the DCU Anti-Bullying Centre recommended a brief review and audit of both the 2013 action plan and the procedures to ensure they comply with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, recommendations. I know this has been asked before but I must say this is of huge importance. We are talking about 2013. What has happened since 2013 and 2021? The issues have compounded and gotten worse on a year-by-year basis. I therefore plead with the Department to have a look at this issue. It has been answered but does anyone want to come in briefly on that? I am aware Senator Dolan wants to come back in. I am not sure if Deputies Ó Laoighaire and Ó Ríordáin are there. If they are, they can indicate to me. Deputy Ó Laoighaire will come in after Senator Dolan.