Terry Brennan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Déanfaidh mé mo dhícheall. Ar dtús cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit ar ais go dtí an Seanad. Gan dabht, I abhor bullying in all of its forms. At some stage, we have each heard of incidents of bullying and its horrific consequences. Homophobic bullying has been documented as being one of the most pervasive forms of bullying in schools. It begins at national school. The programme for Government commits to encouraging schools to develop anti-bullying strategies, in particular strategies to combat homophobic bullying. In 2011, the Minister, Deputy Quinn, established a working group to help draft a roadmap towards the elimination of homophobic bullying from our schools. This was a positive step.

Recently, President Higgins spoke of the destructive reality of homophobic bullying. He stated that it was an important issue, not merely an emotional one. Four out of five Irish teachers are aware of homophobic bullying in their schools, but research shows that only one in five LGBT young people who are victims of it seek support from their schools or teachers. The impact on young people's mental health is well known to us all and includes self-harm, suicide attempts and tragedies, such as the recent one in Dromahair.

Children and teenagers are now more susceptible to bullying in national schools. It can emanate from a variety of sources. A high proportion of young people have been subjected to some form of bullying, leading to tragic consequences in some cases.

According to a 2008 survey, the most common form of bullying was verbal, followed by exclusion and physical bullying. Bullying via written messages and electronic means has become more prominent in recent times. Young children are susceptible to electronic bullying, as the sending of messages to one another via that media continues to grow on a daily basis, particularly in light of social networking. This type of bullying was apparently evident in the sad case of a 15 year old girl who died recently. If possible, cyber bullies must be named and shamed.

I can recount two incidents, although they were not as serious as those described by my colleague. No one was beaten up, etc. A young boy was bullied going to, at and coming from national school. He told his parents that he did not want to go to school any more. They reported it to the teacher and principal, who were unaware that there had been any bullying. A young girl in sixth class who was ready to attend second level told her parents at Christmas that she would not return to school under any circumstance because she had been bullied.