Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Workers and Unemployed Action Group) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute on this legislation. I also welcome our debate on this important subject of child safety and protection. The Bill addresses the school environment, but situations outside the school that have a direct bearing on it must also be tackled.

Bullying affects not just a child's safety, but also his or her education, health and, in some unfortunate cases, life. While I welcome the proposal that binding mandatory measures would be applied to boards of management in this regard, there is little point in having legislation unless we provide the services, resources, teachers and staff required to ensure that the Bill's measures are implemented. The recent reduction in career guidance teachers has been identified as a significant problem. One-to-one engagement between career guidance teachers and children is lacking, a situation that is leading to serious difficulties within schools.

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