Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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Question 34: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the recourse available to a victim of serious school bullying in cases in which the school authorities have contributed to the problem and the school board of management have not successfully resolved the issues arising; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19033/11]

Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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Question 48: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he has read the file that this Deputy sent to him on 1 June 2011 (details supplied) relating to a young person who was wrongly and publicly accused by a school principal of kicking another student; if he has any responsibility to provide any supports to this young person and their parents; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19034/11]

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 98: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he has read the file sent to him on 1 June 2011 (details supplied) relating to a young person who was wrongly and publicly accused by a school principal of kicking another student; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19249/11]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 126: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the extent school bullying incidents are reported to him, with particular reference to the need to review such incidents in order to determine frequency or seriousness; the procedures if any in place to deal with such matters at local and central level; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19462/11]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 34, 48, 98 and 126 together.

I take the issue of bullying in schools very seriously and am committed to ensuring that schools tackle bullying in all its forms. Under the Education (Welfare) Act 2000, all schools are required to have in place a Code of Behaviour and this code must be drawn up in accordance with the guidelines of the National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB). The NEWB guidelines were issued to schools in 2008 and make it clear that each school must have policies to prevent or address bullying and harassment and schools must make clear in their code of behaviour that bullying is unacceptable. The guidelines further state that as well as making explicit that bullying is prohibited in the school, and having an anti-bullying policy, the code of behaviour should indicate what action the school will take in relation to alleged breaches of the school's bullying policy.

Every school therefore must have in place a policy which includes specific measures to deal with bullying behaviour, within the framework of the school's overall school code of behaviour. Such a code, developed through consultation with the whole school community and properly implemented, can be the most influential measure in countering bullying behaviour in schools.

The Department has also issued Guidelines on Countering Bullying Behaviour as an aid to schools in devising measures to prevent and deal with instances of bullying behaviour. These guidelines were drawn up following consultation with representatives of school management, teachers and parents, and are sufficiently flexible to allow each school authority to adapt them to suit the particular needs of their school.

As a further aid to post primary schools, the Department published a template that can be used by post-primary schools in developing an anti-bullying policy. The anti-bullying policy template is based primarily on the key document Guidelines on Countering Bullying Behaviour. However, it also takes account of more recent legislative and regulatory changes, and reference is made to issues of contemporary concern such as the need to tackle text bullying, cyber-bullying and homophobic bullying.

The education of students in both primary and post-primary schools in relation to anti-bullying behaviour is part of the Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) curriculum. SPHE is now a compulsory subject both at primary level and in the junior cycle of post-primary schools. In addition, training on The Stay Safe Programme is offered on an ongoing basis to primary schools.

Responsibility for tackling bullying falls to the level of the individual school, as it is at local level that an effective anti-bullying climate must be established and at that level that actions should be taken to address bullying. There is no requirement for local school authorities to report incidents or allegations of bullying or of verbal or physical abuse of school staff to my Department, nor do I believe that this should be the case.

Under the Education Act 1998, legally, all schools are managed by school Boards of Management, on behalf of the school patrons or trustees, and it is the Board of Management who employ the teachers at the school. Accordingly, whereas I provide funding and policy direction for schools, neither I nor the Department have legal powers to instruct schools to follow a particular course of direction with regards to individual complaint cases, or to investigate individual complaints except where the complaint involves a refused enrolment, expulsion or suspension, in accordance with Section 29 of the 1998 Education Act.

My Department does receive parental complaints and queries regarding matters that they refer to as bullying. In 2010 my Department received a total of 390 such complaints/queries via telephone or written correspondence. To the end of June 2011 my Department has received 231 similar complaints/queries.

I can confirm that I received the file that Deputy Colreavy sent to me on the 23rd June. My officials are examining the file and a response will be issued in the coming days.

In dealing with these and other parental complaints, my Department's role is to provide information to parents and students on the operation of schools' complaints procedures and to clarify for parents and students how grievances and complaints against schools can be progressed. If a parent wishes to make a complaint against a teacher or school they should contact the relevant school authorities. The complaint procedures adopted by most schools are those that have been agreed between the teacher unions and school management bodies.

The Office of the Ombudsman for Children may independently investigate complaints about schools recognised with the Department of Education and Skills, provided the parent has firstly and fully followed the school's complaints procedures. The key criterion for any intervention by the Ombudsman for Children is that the action of the school has had a negative affect on a child. The office can be contacted at Ombudsman for Children's Office, Millennium House, 52-56 Great Strand Street, Dublin 1, (Ph) 1800 20 20 40 or (01) 8656800, E-mail oco@oco.ie.

Further guidance to parents on progressing a concern in relation their child's school is available on the Guide to Services Page of my Department's website at www.education.ie.

If a parent has a child protection concern they can report this directly to the Health Service Executive, which has statutory responsibility for investigating child protection allegations. Child protection concern reported to my Department are dealt with in accordance with the Department's Procedures for responding to allegations of Child Abuse brought to the attention of staff employed by the Department of Education and Skills.

Under these procedures, the child protection concerns brought to the attention of staff employed by my Department are immediately transmitted to the relevant investigatory authorities, without judgment, including the relevant school authorities, the Health Service Executive and/or An Gardaí.