Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour)
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1069. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the processes and procedures in place to identify and address bullying, harassment and employment discrimination complaints in schools by direct employees of the boards of management in which members of the board of management or senior management of the school are the subjects of the complaints; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20219/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Complaints of this nature are matters for individual schools, as employers, under relevant legislation and procedures, and my Department has no direct role in managing such complaints.

Under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Acts employers have a duty to ensure the health and safety of their employees in the workplace including “prevent any improper conduct or behaviour likely to put the safety, health and welfare of employees at risk”. The Code of Practice for Employers and Employees on the Prevention and Resolution of Bullying at Work sets out detailed procedure for dealing with formal and informal complaints.

The Health and Safety Authority provides information and advice on such issues and the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) also offers a mediation service to help resolve issues informally before a formal process is initiated. The WRC is also the place to bring a discrimination claim under the Employment Equality Acts as it investigates or mediates claims of unlawful discrimination under equality legislation.

Employees in schools have the same rights and access under these processes as other employees.