Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent)
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119. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if her attention has been drawn to the high volume of primary school children being bullied on social media and the lack of education surrounding the issue; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [56535/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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My Department is strongly supportive of the promotion of wellbeing in schools and has a key role to play in the promotion of the wellbeing of children and young people in Ireland. The Department’s Wellbeing Policy Statement and Framework for Practice sets out the ambition and vision of the Department that the promotion of wellbeing will be at the core of the ethos of every school and centre for education in Ireland and that all schools will provide evidence-informed approaches and support, appropriate to need, to promote the wellbeing of their students.

There are currently extensive training and curricular supports, including through the Social Personal Health Education (SPHE) curriculum, the Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST) and the Webwise Programme, to assist schools in the development of policies and practices on the safe use of the internet and on the prevention of bullying including cyber-bullying. The Report on the Review of Relationships and Sexuality Education in primary and post-primary schools places a strong focus on issues such as safe use of the internet, social media and its effects on relationships and self-esteem.

The PDST and its Webwise team have developed dedicated resources for teachers, parents, children and young people which gives practical information and advice on the safe, ethical and responsible use of the internet and addresses key issues such as cyberbullying, sexting, image sharing, respectful communication, social media, popular apps and more. The Webwise resources are available at www.webwise.ie.

The Digital Strategy for Schools 2015-2020 also promotes the development of digital literacy in our young people and the importance of respectful online communications. A new digital strategy is under development with planned publication early next year. Online safety will be an important feature of the new strategy.

My Department’s Inspectorate is prioritising monitoring and gathering information about the implementation of anti-bullying measures in schools. As part of this work, the Inspectorate will also identify and report on examples of effective practice in relation to preventing and tacking bullying in schools. This will help provide evidence of the type of bullying that is occurring in our schools and examples of approaches that can be successful in dealing with it. An important part of the Inspectorate’s work will be a focus on the priority actions of schools in relation to promoting a positive school culture and climate.

My Department also provides funding to the National Anti-Bullying Research and Resource Centre (ABC) in DCU towards its research and training programmes, an annual grant to the National Parents Council (Primary) for anti-bullying training and information for parents and funding to BeLonG To Youth Services to support delivery of the annual Stand Up campaign in post primary schools. An annual grant is also provided by my Department to ABC to meet the running and development costs of the national anti-bullying website, www.tacklebullying.ie providing a single point of information on the types and methods of bullying as well as supports and information on how to deal with it for young people, parents and teachers.

This year, on Safer Internet Day, the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020 (Coco’s Law) was enacted. On that day, the Minister for Justice also announced that an agreement had been reached between her Department, ABC and my Department, to establish a ‘Research Observatory on Cyberbullying’ focused on providing up-to-date research, advice and resources related to cyberbullying, cyberhate, and online harassment, and the implementation of Coco’s Law.

The Observatory team has put together an outline of an online research repository of resources on cyberbullying, cyberhate and online harassment which will be made available in early 2022 for researchers and the general public. It plans to host an online webinar before year-end where national and International experts share their knowledge on cyberbullying and online abuse with researchers and with the broader general public, including teachers, parents, and young people. It is also designing an interview study to collect data on teenagers’ experiences of cyberbullying, cyberhate and online harassment, within an Irish context.

As the Deputy may be aware, I recently announced that my Department will commence a review of my Department’s 2013 Action Plan on Bullying and the 2013 Anti-bullying Procedures for Primary and Post-primary Schools. This review will take account of developments and relevant research since the action plan and procedures were published in 2013 and will specifically consider areas such as cyber bullying and gender identity bullying. The review will also give detailed consideration to the recommendations contained in the Oireachtas Joint Committee Report on School Bullying and the Impact on Mental Health.