Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I would like to start by thanking the Deputy for raising what is a very important issue. I am aware of the growing public concern, especially after a number of recent tragic cases to which the Deputy has referred. Let me, at the outset, express my heartfelt sympathy to the families involved who have been affected by events that we are aware of and which have featured in public discussion in recent days.

Cyberbullying is a manifestation of bullying and refers to instances where it is carried on using modern technology or, more correctly, abusing that technology. It seems more prevalent among younger people but it is not confined to that group. The anonymity of cyberspace lends itself to individuals being bullied and abused by those who feel safe in the anonymity afford to them.

Bullying is essentially a form of harassment and, as such, falls within the provisions of the Non-fatal Offences against the Person Act 1997. Section 10 of the Act sets out the details of the offence and there is no doubt that bullying using technology, or cyberbullying as it is generally referred to, falls within the term "harassment". I therefore believe the current law can be used to address the problem. However, I have been made aware of difficulties in bringing successful prosecutions under section 10, especially around the need to demonstrate persistence in the harassment. I have asked the Law Reform Commission to examine this difficulty and I await its conclusions.

I understand that the issue has already been examined elsewhere, including in Scotland and Australia, and I hope that we can learn from those jurisdictions. The Deputy referred to the position in the UK. I understand the difficulty I referred to about proving persistence has been addressed, but I am not aware of any current initiatives to change its laws to address cyberbullying in particular. Cyberbullying is an extension of the bullying that has occurred, and still occurs, with texting. The latter is another means for people anonymously to put young people under pressure.

I would urge anyone who is the victim of any kind of bullying, including cyberbullying, to report it to the Garda Síochána. I would also urge parents and other family members to support and encourage victims in doing so and to make complaints to gardaí where appropriate to facilitate the Garda Síochána in bringing prosecutions. It is not simply a question of telling gardaí, but where a crime has been committed the Garda Síochána needs parents to make a formal complaint so that as a result any investigation has the capacity to bring about a prosecution.

I realise, however, that many may also require assistance in coming to understand and deal with the problem. In that respect, I think it worthwhile to refer to several of the services available from a variety of sources. Of course, as a first requirement, parents and teachers must develop an awareness of bullying and must be especially aware of how mobile telephones and other equipment and means of communication can be used to intimidate and harass young persons.

The Safer Internet Programme, which is administered by the Office of Internet Safety in my Department, supports helplines for parents and teachers run by the ISPCC, the National Parents Council (Primary), and Technology in Education, which was formerly the National Centre for Technology in Education. Technology in Education also has a website for children. In their visits to schools under their primary schools programme, gardaí also highlight cyberbullying.

The Safer Internet Day takes place in February each year. It is an international event with an agreed theme. The theme for 2013 is "Connect with Respect" and I expect the emphasis will be on using technology in a friendly, respectful way. All of us who are working with children and young people must encourage and promote that message at every opportunity.

The law has a role to play and I hope we can increase its effectiveness in the context of any reforms that may arise from the Law Reform Commission's deliberations. I cannot emphasise enough, however, the importance of constant vigilance by family and teachers, the need constantly to remind young people themselves of the damage that bullying in any form can cause, and the need to take it very seriously. All too frequently, allegations of bullying are not taken with the necessary seriousness by adults who hear about them. Indeed, all too frequently, schools fail adequately to address instances of bullying that are reported to them.

Heightened public awareness of the problem can only contribute to a recognition that such behaviour is completely unacceptable, whether it occurs in schools, the workplace or elsewhere. The sad reality is that children can be very cruel to each other, as can adults. The anonymity of cyberspace affords a unique opportunity for those who want to do down others, or for those who themselves have been victims of bullying, are damaged by it and now want to identify victims to target. It is all too easy to use this medium in that way.

The important thing is that young people who find themselves at the receiving end of bullying on a particular social media site understand that there is no compulsion to access that site. It does not have to be part of a person's life that they visit such a site daily to see what someone is saying about them. There is a world outside cyberspace.

An additional issue, which is not given adequate consideration, is the extent to which today, in what is a very new world, people's lives - both adults and children - can be dominated by social media outlets and cyberspace connections, as opposed to them actually getting on with the real world. They can create an artificial environment in the context of which they become victims.

I feel particularly strongly about this issue. It is not just about the law or the Garda, it is about families and hearing teenagers' voices when they say they have a difficulty. It is also about properly reporting it and following up on such reports. In addition, it concerns primary and secondary school principals doing a great deal more to discourage bullying in the first place. They need to talk to young school students about their actions and the consequences. It must be ensured that this is not just a half-hour lecture that will be forgotten when the world moves on. Students should become engaged in projects so that the damage they can do, if they engage in conduct of that nature, is clearly understood.

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