Ms Yvonne Keating:

Oversight with regard to the implementation of anti-bullying measures and ensuring that schools are safe places for all, in particular with regard to the implementation of the 2013 procedures, can be viewed from three related perspectives. The first is at school level. We mentioned the school principal and his or her responsibilities regarding reporting regularly to the board, the annual review of the school's anti-bullying policies and all of its dimensions and reporting to the parents' association when a review of the anti-bullying policy has been undertaken. In addition, the board of management has a particular oversight role in each school regarding how the school deals with child protection concerns arising from bullying.

The role of the Department has a number of dimensions. First, as the Chairman will be aware, the school governance section devised the anti-bullying procedures for primary and post-primary schools, which inform schools of their responsibilities, including the responsibilities of school principals and boards to ensure schools are safe places for all those in them. As such, the school governance section has overall oversight of the implementation of the 2013 procedures. If parents contact the Department with a complaint relating to the implementation of the procedures, initially they are advised to utilise the agreed complaints procedures at school level. This will involve contacting the school principal initially and thereafter contacting the chairperson of the board of management. If parents contact the Department with a child protection concern arising from alleged bullying behaviour among pupils, the Department official who receives that complaint completes a child protection concern form and forwards this to the Department's parents and learners unit. Under the Department's procedures, that child protection concern form is forwarded to Tusla. As part of the overall oversight responsibilities of the Department, the parents and learners unit also provides summary data relating to the number of child protection concerns, which are submitted to the Department's child protection oversight group and subsequently submitted to the Department's management board. The responsibility to ensure that there is a safe working environment for all staff members would also be covered by various elements of employment law that are beyond my competence to go into here.