Ciara Conway (Waterford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill. I also have some of the concerns outlined by my colleagues, particularly regarding the onus on a person on the board of management to make a report. Previously, in the case of the Children First guidelines, we saw the hesitancy of people, often professional people, to make reports to social workers regarding child protection. This is a very similar area and a huge amount of support and training would have to be devoted to what is essentially a volunteer organisation.

There has been much talk in this debate about the victim and the perpetrator of bullying. However, I have spoken to professionals and, this afternoon, I spoke to a school principal on the phone about their thoughts on the action plan on bullying being launched tomorrow by the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, and the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald. The big problem is the conspiracy of silence that surrounds bullying. It is not only the victim or the perpetrator but also the onlookers who fail to report it. They do not want to break the code of silence or fear they will become victims of bullying. As a parent, I would like to think my daughter would not stand by and watch other people being bullied. Until we as parents can instil in our children that it is not good enough to stand on the sidelines and watch bullying take place, we will not be able to tackle bullying in schools.

Bullying is as old as time and unless we break the conspiracy of silence that exists around bullying, we will have to debate it again and again. I look forward to and welcome the action plan being published tomorrow. I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important issue. I hope it is not a fad because there has been so much tragedy as a result of bullying, but that it will remain a priority for the Government. I also hope we will be able to implement the action plan in the months ahead.

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