Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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720. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when the Action Plan on Bullying and related Anti-Bullying Procedures for Primary and Post Primary Schools will be updated in line with current policies on child protection, well-being, and relationships and sexuality education; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63247/21]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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721. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her plans to establish a national system for the reporting of data on individual bullying cases and the outcomes of these interventions that are currently being collected by schools and reported to their boards of management; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63248/21]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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722. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of cases of bullying that have been reported to her Department by students in schools nationally; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63249/21]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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725. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if her Department plans to roll out the FUSE anti-bullying programme developed by the Dublin City University anti-bullying centre to primary and secondary schools as a model of best practice; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63252/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 720, 721, 722 and 725 together.

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. My Department’s Wellbeing Policy Statement and Framework for Practice sets out the ambition and vision of my 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.

As the Deputy is aware, I have announced that my Department is commencing a review of my Department’s 2013 Action Plan on Bullying and the 2013 Anti-bullying Procedures for Primary and Post-primary Schools.

The review  will reflect the significant developments and relevant research since 2013, specifically in relation to the areas of 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. The report includes recommendations relating to the establishment of a System for the compilation of data on the incidence of Bullying in Primary and Post-Primary Schools and relating to the expansion of the FUSE Programme.

The 2013 Anti-Bullying Procedures for Primary and Post-primary Schools outline key principles of best practice for both preventing and tackling bullying and require all schools to commit to these principles in their anti-bullying policy. In particular, they emphasise that a cornerstone in the prevention of bullying is a positive school culture and climate. In that regard, the procedures set out the need for schools to encourage and strengthen open dialogue between all school staff and pupils and to ensure that they provide appropriate opportunities for pupils to raise their concerns in an environment that is comfortable for the pupil.

The anti-bullying procedures also include specific requirements in relation to the use of prevention and education strategies and the consistent investigation, follow up and recording of bullying behaviour.

All Boards of Management are required to adopt and implement an anti-bullying policy that fully complies with the requirements of the Anti-Bullying Procedures. A template anti-bullying policy which must be used by all schools for this purpose is included in the procedures.

The procedures for schools put in place important oversight arrangements at school level that involve the school principal reporting regularly to the Board of Management and a requirement for the Board to undertake an annual review of the school's anti- bullying policy and its implementation. Confirmation that the annual review has been completed must be provided to the Parents' Association and published on the school website.

My Department’s Inspectorate, in the course of their inspection work, gathers information about how schools deal with bullying in a number of ways through:

- Review of relevant school documentation, including the school’s Code of Behaviour and  Anti-Bullying policy;

- Meetings with parents and  student representatives at which there is an opportunity for parents and  students to raise issues where relevant and;

- The inclusion, in Inspectorate surveys of parents and students, of items relating to bullying.

During this school year this work has been extended, with my Department’s Inspectorate prioritising monitoring and gathering information about the implementation of anti-bullying measures in schools across all its inspection types. 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 is a focus on the priority actions of schools in relation to promoting a positive school culture and climate.

Between September and November 2021, the Inspectorate conducted a programme of incidental inspections in primary schools, special schools and post-primary schools. Those inspections included a focus on how schools prevent and tackle bullying through promoting a positive school climate and culture.  Over 450 of those inspections were carried out. During 2022, the Inspectorate will also extend its monitoring of anti-bullying to other inspection types. It will also develop a model of inspection that will look in a detailed way at school culture and climate in the context of anti-bullying.

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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723. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of school inspectors that will also be asked to carry out specific anti-bullying inspections in schools; if these inspections will be published; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63250/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Inspectorate will continue to monitor the implementation of anti-bullying measures in schools in 2022. There are currently 103.4 whole-time equivalent primary and post-primary inspectors serving in the Inspectorate and almost all will be involved in the monitoring of the implementation of anti-bullying measures in schools as part of the range of evaluation and advisory work that they will be carrying out in recognised schools and centres for education. A number of these inspectors will also be involved in the analysis of the data arising from this work for reporting to the Department and Minister.