Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 61: To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the extent to which she has had an opportunity to study the extent to which children and teenagers are bullied by their peers or others; the extent to which this happens through the Internet or mobile phones, social networks or otherwise; the extent to which she can put in place procedures to alert parents, guardians or school authorities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19787/11]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I am aware that children and teenagers are susceptible to bullying which can emanate from a variety of sources. An unacceptably high proportion of children have been the subject of some form of bullying. According to the 2008 survey "Growing Up In Ireland" the most common form of bullying identified by children who were victims was verbal bullying, followed by exclusion and physical bullying.

Bullying by written messages and electronic means was less prominent at the time, but we are all aware that our children are very susceptible to the use of electronic media for bullying purposes, as use of this media, particularly for social networking, continues to grow. A Guide to Cyber Bullying was published at the end of 2008. This was a joint initiative between the Office for Internet Safety, the National Centre for Technology in Education (NCTE), O2 and Barnardos. The NCTE also developed the website 'www.webwise.ie' http://www.webwise.ie/ which provides information and resources to teachers, parents and students to help ensure that children's online experiences are positive and safe.

In relation to bullying in schools the Department of Education and Skills deals with regulations and guidelines on this issue. It is my understanding that the individual Board of Management of the school is the body responsible for the governance of the school, including responsibility for implementing effective policies to counter bullying. Any complaint of bullying should in the first instance be made to the Chairperson of the Board of Management. The Department of Education and Skills may subsequently become involved should it be necessary to review the handling of the complaint by the Board of Management.

My Department provided funding in 2010 towards "Addressing Homophobia - Guidelines for the Youth Sector In Ireland", developed by the BeLonG To Youth Service. This is an important resource to help raise awareness of homophobia and to support the youth sector in preventing and addressing homophobic bullying.