Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Tá áthas orm deis a bheith agam labhairt ar an Bhille tábhachtach seo. I commend my colleague, Deputy Jonathan O’Brien, and his staff for bringing forward this Bill. In opposition we are often accused of being critical or condemnatory for its sake alone but this Bill is surely an example of a representative attempting to bring forward a real and positive measure which will deal with a growing problem in our society. I must also thank Dr. Stephen Minton, an expert in bullying who lent his knowledge to the Bill’s formulation.

The Bill sets out to put a legislative responsibility on the board of management of schools through an elected officer to adopt and implement an “anti-bullying policy”. These procedures then must be abided by following a complaint by a pupil or legal guardian, or a teacher who is aware of a problem. The Minister must also from this Bill introduce regulations based on existing guidelines, making them mandatory. The Bill will help to combat bullying, giving support to those who are bullied and attention to those who bully and create an environment where pupils can feel protected and safe in their school and throughout their school days.

We know all too well the cost of allowing the present state of affairs to continue. Bullying is not an easy issue to deal with. Its causes are many and symptomatic of a society which breeds carelessness in how we treat others. However, something can and should be done.

We all know of stories from our local communities of children who have taken their own lives following prolonged periods of bullying. Such events which are so tragic it is hard to consider them fully occur in every part of the country. Young, vibrant lives that are full of potential end because bullying was allowed to continue or was not even noticed. The experiences of the children in question may have been different but one thing is certain - more could and should have been done. The lesson we must learn from these deaths is that we must ensure more is done in the future.

Children who take their own lives as a result of bullying make up a small proportion of the children who dread going to school every day because of the loneliness they experience and the mistreatment and anger inflicted on them by people who are supposed to be their peers. School is supposed to be a bastion of knowledge, exploration and excitement where young people learn how to work and play and be the person they will grow into. It is not meant to be a cold place of fear and anguish or one in which they will, as adults, look back on with anger and pain.

Those who are assembled here are political representatives and activists because we seek to carve out a better world for our children, one in which they will be happy and safe from harm. This is not an easy task, but this legislation is a step that would help us on our way. Schools must protect children and never treat bullying as a phase or something to gloss over.

Those who face abuse are often those who are marginalised. Traveller children face deep discrimination not only in school but also in their daily lives. My local area has a large number of families from the Traveller community and I know all too well the problems Traveller children face in schools. Coming from a disadvantaged background with low educational attainment, they are already on the back foot and grow up in a society in which slurs against their people are commonplace. Bullying is a reality for them every day, as it is for many children from immigrant backgrounds. The problem is not confined to people from certain backgrounds, however, and crosses all sections of society. Homophobic and transphobic bullying, for instance, is a form of discriminatory bullying that requires a specific focus and strategy of its own to complement general anti-bullying policy.

The Bill seeks to make action on bullying mandatory. It would make the Minister responsible for ensuring this took place and empower him or her to enforce a system in which bullying would not be tolerated or ignored. Experts have been clear that a lack of clarity in procedure and indecision in the face of bullying significantly hamper the resolution of a bullying problem. Bullying must be broadly but clearly defined in order that no child who needs help is placed outside this definition and that there is no equivocation about whether bullying is taking place. Deputies from across the political divide have met families who have encountered bullying and must introduce measures to prevent it. I commend the Bill to the House.

See this speech in context