Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)

I thank Deputy Neville for raising this issue. I welcome the opportunity to discuss the very serious issue of bullying. Tackling the issue of bullying, and in particular homophobic bullying in schools, is a key commitment in the programme for Government. Bullying can ruin a young person's enjoyment of some of the most important years of his or her life and in some cases can have tragic consequences.

Deputy Neville summed it up when he spoke about the pervasive nature of this form of bullying. It can act as a barrier to a young person having equal access to education. I note that Deputy Neville referred to the document drafted by GLEN, the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network. I am to meet with that organisation's chair, Mr. Kieran Rose, shortly so that we can drive an agenda that speaks to the concerns raised by Deputy Neville.

Research has shown that, unfortunately, homophobic bullying is a problem in Irish schools, and a correlation has been found between homophobic bullying and serious mental health difficulties such as suicide. That is one of the reasons the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn, convened an anti-bullying forum recently, on 17 May, to explore ways to tackle the serious problem of bullying in schools. That date, 17 May, marked the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia.

The forum, which was well attended and thought-provoking, considered issues around all forms of bullying including homophobic bullying, cyber bullying and racist bullying. There were a range of speakers at the forum, which included contributions from officials of the Department of Education and Skills, and from an acknowledged academic in the field of anti-bullying. There were also contributors from the school sector, including the various perspectives of school principals, parents and pupils. The objective was to explore with all the relevant stakeholders how best to tackle bullying in schools. A further objective was to consider what changes or updating of existing practices and procedures are required to achieve this, having regard to what is feasible to implement in the current financial climate.

The outcome of the discussions at the forum will provide an opportunity to set out a roadmap on how best to tackle all forms of bullying in our schools. A considerable amount of work to address the issue of bullying in schools has been done by State agencies and NGOs, such as GLEN and BeLonG To. We need to address how we can deepen the impact of the measures that are already in place and also strengthen the culture of awareness in schools. The work of the forum and any recommendations from it must be cognisant of the current difficult and challenging budgetary environment.

The Minister, Deputy Quinn, has also established a working group on tackling bullying. The outcomes, recommendations and submissions from the forum will assist the working group in its deliberations. The first phase to be addressed by the working group will be homophobic bullying. There will be an opportunity for all interested stakeholders to submit their views in writing. Students, teachers, parents and all other interested parties are invited to submit their views on this important topic by 29 June 2012.

Deputy Neville has taken a strong lead on this issue. If we continue to engage in fora such as this one, we will be able to shed more light on the issue, thus having the required beneficial outcomes. We all believe that bullying is an issue we can address by sharing our experiences and working together to produce an effective response.

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