Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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87. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the process by which his Department will be developing and contributing draft actions to be considered as part of the action plan on Internet safety to be published in June 2018; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16889/18]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The Government will develop an Action Plan on Internet safety and my Department will work with the other Government Departments with responsibility in the area to develop those actions to be included in the new Action Plan.

The recommendations from the recent Joint Oireachtas Committee Report on Cyber Security for Children and Young Adults are under consideration, and will underpin and inform the development of the draft actions in the new Action Plan on Internet safety.

My Department promotes internet safety in a number of ways including the prescription of school curriculum, provision of teacher professional development programmes, development of specialist resources for teachers and schools and provision of advice and information.

 The PDST (Technology in Education) is a dedicated team established and funded by the Department to advise and support schools in the area of digital technologies, including issues of internet safety. The PDST-TiE also oversee Webwise.ie. which is a major part of the Safer Internet Ireland Project coordinated by the Office for Internet Safety.  Webwise.ie has responsibility for national initiatives aimed at the promotion of the safer use of electronic media and the protection of the vulnerable, particularly children, against the downsides of the internet. 

The PDST also provide information, advice, and tools to parents to support their engagement in their children’s online lives and with the help of the Webwise Youth Advisory Panel they develop youth oriented awareness raising resources and campaigns that address topics such as social networking, sexting, cyber bullying. 

Under the Digital Strategy for Schools 2015-2020 one of the key objectives is to promote responsible and ethical use of the internet and related technologies and to continue to undertake awareness-raising actions and programmes that promote responsible and ethical use of the internet.