Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am not sure if the Minister is familiar with the EU kids on-line survey quoted in the question and some of the statistics arising therefrom. It showed that 14% of children in Ireland aged between nine and 16 felt the effects of bullying for about two months after the incident occurred, compared to the European average of about 2%. In itself, that figure is a shocking statistic. I acknowledge that the Minister has brought forward the action plan on bullying, which contains some good measures, and we welcomed it at the time. A media campaign, Watch Your Space was launched recently and another, Connect with Respect, will be implemented in partnership with the Garda who will go into the schools and speak to students on the dangers of the Internet and the effects of cyber bullying.

The Minister mentioned that the group who looked at the whole area of bullying did not prioritise the introduction of new legislation. Most EU countries that are regarded as the leaders in anti-bulllying have a background in legislation. They put the building blocks on the Statute Book and build on them. That is an issue we need to look at again. As part of implementation of the action plan is there any element that will continually consider the possibility of introducing legislation?

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