Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the excellent work being done by the Chairman and the committee. He will be aware that the Department recently launched the Cineáltas plan - "cineáltas" meaning "kindness" - which is the anti-bullying framework for schools. It recognises that every child and young person has a right to feel safe and valued within his or her school environment. There must be zero tolerance of bullying in any part of society and most especially within our schools. Regarding online safety, the Chairman will be aware of the excellent work done by Webwise and that the Department has benefited hugely from the work of the anti-bullying centre in Dublin City University, DCU. As part of the Cineáltas initiative, the FUSE programme, which is already in many schools, will be rolled out to all schools, which will help to ensure students have the appropriate skills, knowledge and know-how to deal with bullying.

On the wider incidence of bullying, there will be a national database for the first time ever. It will obviously be anonymised but it will contain details of the types of incidents of bullying. The information provided by our schools will inform the Department of the issues most impacting our schools. At present our inspectorate, which has oversight of the measures being implemented in our schools, has an opportunity to share best practice. Best practice in one school is shared with other schools. A very proactive and positive approach is taken in this regard by the Department.