Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the witnesses. It is great to meet them and to hear such a good debate today. It is wonderful that today is the inaugural UN international Day against Violence and Bullying at School Including Cyberbullying. It recognises the right of children to education, health and well-being. It is fantastic that the President of Ireland, the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, and the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, have released a video this morning highlighting how important it is for all of us, including parents, teachers and especially public representatives, to call this out. I was taken aback when I heard the statistic of 30%, one in three, in every classroom in Ireland. I welcome the resources that are available. I have had a chance to go through websites like tacklebullying.ie, webwise.ie, soar.ieand spunout.ie. I am curious about what other proactive measures are being taken along with these websites. What programmes are being delivered, especially during the Covid pandemic? Normally, workshops might have taken place. What else is happening in a proactive way?

There are many symptoms for the students. There is anxiety, distress, a drop in school performance and low confidence and self-esteem. Sometimes it is hard to recognise that this is happening. It is the definition of bullying. We have probably seen it to some extent in all walks of life, or we have heard about it or we know of people to whom it has happened. It is about the tools we need to help. What are the tools for parents and teachers to help them with mediation and, specifically, what mediation training is being given to teachers to help them deal with students who are impacted by bullying and also the children who are doing the bullying in certain instances?