Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein)

He is 16 and half years of age. He is desperately unhappy. He is not mixing with his peers. He spends all his time at home and has on occasion threatened to run away from home and worse. His parents are at their wits' end. They have spent the past two years of their lives trying to have this matter resolved. They have tried every avenue except civil legal action but always run into a cul-de-sac of official impotence. This good and decent family has lost all respect for politicians and the political system. They have also lost respect for me, because although I want to help, I am unable to bring about the change that is needed. They ask, with understandable grounds, how any political system that claims to cherish and protect children can allow such a situation to continue with no avenue of address, let alone redress. They are angry, frustrated and disillusioned that politicians and the political system cannot see the wrong and correct it immediately. They spend sleepless nights wondering how their son can survive this cruel episode unscathed. The Minister has said previously and I agree that this sort of situation is disgraceful and should not be tolerated in any civilised society.

I would take the Minister to be a compassionate, caring and committed person and I ask him to put himself into the shoes of these parents and imagine for a moment what his life would be like if one of his young children was going through this ordeal. I believe the Minister knows it is wrong that this boy is a prisoner in his own home and that his psychological development is being greatly damaged by the failure of our legislative system to provide access to justice in this case. Home tuition is being provided but it is not the solution. The solution lies in legislating for an open, transparent, professional, independent, competent and accountable system to process allegations of abuse against teachers. It is deeply disappointing that the Bill contains nothing to address this.

Recently, I joined our party spokespersons on education, Deputy Seán Crowe and Senator Kathryn Reilly, for a meeting with members of the National Anti-Bullying Coalition. During that meeting it became very clear to me that bullying of and by teachers is not uncommon. It happens and what I am talking about is not an isolated incident. However, bullying is notoriously difficult to resolve short of civil legal action. We commend the NABC for the very important job it is doing in addressing the many types of bullying taking place within primary and secondary schools, which tragically lead in some cases to mental health problems, incidents of self-harm and suicide. We support the work of the NABC and the implementation of the Safe School programme which introduces accredited measures to address bullying and is based on empirical research and best practice in other countries, for example Finland.

The Minister holds the key to ensuring that young people like my young constituent and his parents can get justice. He has the right, the power and, I would argue, the responsibility to amend this Bill to incorporate the points I have raised. We cannot say we do not know what is going on: we know. We cannot and never would prejudge the outcome of any investigation, but we know there must be a process that will allow an investigation be held. We cannot say we are unaware of the potentially very serious consequences for this young lad from Sligo and his parents, and possibly for hundreds if not thousands of pupils and parents throughout Ireland.

I believe my job in opposition is not simply to oppose policy, therefore, it would be wrong of me to oppose policy purely for the sake of opposition. I believe my job here as an opposition Deputy includes helping Government make better choices, decisions, policies and legislation and I take that responsibility seriously. In this spirit, I would gladly work with the Minister and his officials to address this issue. I have no doubt an amendment along the lines I have set out would receive extensive cross-party support. Will the Minister turn that key by agreeing to incorporate such an amendment? If he does so, he will not only initiate much needed legislation, but will offer hope and a restoration of trust in the democratic system for these parents in Sligo and for parents and students throughout the country.

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