Catherine Noone (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Last month, I highlighted a report that was released by CyberSafeIreland on childhood safety in cyber issues. The report set out that 84% of teachers surveyed said they did not cover online safety on the curriculum while 64% said they did not have sufficient resources. We need to have a debate in the House on this very serious issue which is only getting worse given the extent to which technology and online matters are so far ahead of those who make policy in this area. A new survey released yesterday and conducted by the national anti-bullying centre at DCU emphasises the need for additional measures to combat this scourge as a matter of priority.

Only one in three parents feels confident that he or she can protect children online. Parental concerns revolve around risks of cyberbullying, access to pornographic content, online grooming and generally spending too much time on the Internet. When it comes to lifestyle issues, the last is the biggest of them all. Children are going online at increasingly younger ages. Combined with the exponential growth in mobile phones, this presents an immense challenge for parents.

The latest study highlighted how new apps and social media platforms are coming onto the market all the time and being targeted at children as young as nine. A second report out today also confirmed that one in ten children in Ireland says he or she has been cyberbullied. Both reports are being released to highlight Safer Internet Day which is tomorrow. They call for parental education around digital technologies and their use.

Meanwhile, the survey of parental attitudes conducted last month among parents of children aged zero to 18 found that they employ a range of strategies to try to protect their children, the most common being limiting screen time. As most children are accessing the Internet on tablets and mobile phones now, it is very difficult for parents to have any control. Certainly, they cannot watch their children on a 24-7 basis. Of parents, 53% are happy with how they monitor their children's use of the Internet but 40% admit it is easy for their children to use the Internet without their knowledge. I ask the Leader for a debate in the House on this issue and to suggest to the Minister that we create a one-stop-shop for this issue nationally. There should be strategic campaigns for parents and a back-up service to help them with the issue of cyberbullying.