Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the Senators for allowing me to speak on this debate in the Seanad. I will bring to the attention of the working group on anti-bullying all the comments made in this debate. I will give the working group a link to the debate in order that it can take on board all the comments that have been made and will be made after I have finished speaking.

On a personal note on behalf of the Government, I take the opportunity to express our sympathy to the families and friends of all of those who lost their lives so tragically to suicide recently, to which reference has been already made.

There is a specific commitment in the programme for Government to help schools tackle bullying and in particular homophobic bullying which underlines the Government's commitment to tackling this issue. It was with this in mind that I, along with my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Fitizgerald, convened a forum on anti-bullying on 17 May this year. Remarkably and coincidentally, this was the first time the Department of Education and Skills together with the Department of Children and Youth Affairs had hosted a dedicated forum on this sensitive issue. The event which coincided with the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia provided an opportunity to bring together a range of stakeholders to consider what changes to existing policies and practices in schools might be needed to effectively tackle bullying. I also want to identify practical steps, some of which have been referenced already, and recommendations that could be taken to improve how schools approach and tackle bullying. A wide range of expertise and experiences were shared on the day. More than 100 stakeholders attended. These included experts in the field of bullying, support groups for victims of bullying, representatives from the schools sector, and NGOs such as the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network, known as GLEN, and BeLonG To Youth Services.

I have also established a working group to consider how best to tackle all forms and types of bullying in schools. On the day of the forum, I issued a call for submissions from all interested parties and stakeholders. I invited students, teachers, parents and all other interested parties to submit their views on this very important topic by 29 June of this year in order that the working group could take full account of all the issues and viewpoints involved. It is a measure of the concern about bullying that more than 65 submissions have been received from the education partners, representative groups, experts and individuals. The working group has been considering these submissions along with the outcomes and recommendations of the forum. During the past few months, the group has also consulted a range of stakeholders and colleagues in Scotland and elsewhere in the UK. The group is working on an action plan recommending further measures that can be taken to effectively tackle bullying in schools. I have asked the group to submit its action plan in draft form to me by the end of November in order that it can be circulated to the wider community with a view to having it published hopefully by the end of this year or as soon as it is complete.

I am conscious other Senators wish to contribute and obviously the mover of the motion has to respond. I will conclude by saying that I welcome the fact that this House has concentrated so much time on this issue. We will take into account very carefully the constructive suggestions and proposals that have been made and hopefully early in the new year we will be in a position to bring forward a policy to which we can all subscribe. I recognise that many Senators referred to the role of guidance counsellors and the need for pastoral care in our school system. Sadly and because of pressures that were self-evident, I had to take decisions that were taken with a heavy heart. Senator Moloney spoke about the need to restore the allocation as soon as we are in a position to do so. The role probably should be broadened to include wider pastoral care and to avail of other supports on the career guidance side and to recognise the specialist role that pastoral care and guidance counsellors traditionally have provided in our schools. I will complete my comments to facilitate the debate on this issue.

I assure the House that I have listened very carefully to the contributions that have been made and will take them into account.