Dr. David Duffy:

The mode is probably not as important as availability. At present, there is simply not enough continuous professional development. As Mr. O'Sullivan rightly pointed out, it needs to be extensive for all parties and needs to cover all forms of bullying. It needs to cover homophobic bullying, cyberbullying, traditional bullying, racist bullying, etc. The same principle applies to some extent to the question on guidance support and the training of guidance counsellors. Again, it is possible that the mode is not as important as the availability of ex-quota guidance, which sadly has not existed for the best part of ten years. As Mr. Duffy rightly pointed out – this applies as much in the post-primary sector as the primary sector – a reduction in the pupil-teacher ratio is important in preventing problems in the first place. The restoration of year-head provision at post-primary level is also important in terms of prevention. We could all agree that prevention of the problem is a lot better than trying to fix it later.