Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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724. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when an online cyberbullying and internet safety training programme will be introduced; if it will be mandatory; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63251/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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 There are extensive training and curricular supports already available to schools, including through the Social Personal Health Education (SPHE) curriculum, the Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST), Webwise.ie and the Department funded national anti-bullying website www.tacklebullying.ie to assist schools in the development of policies and practices on the prevention of bullying and harassment, including cyberbullying, and on the safe and responsible use of the internet. 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.   

There is a wide range of training material available through the Webwise Internet Safety Programme to support teachers, students and parents on online safety.   Funded by the Department of Education and the EU Internet Safety Initiative webwise.ie promotes the autonomous, effective and safe use of the internet by young people through a sustained information and awareness strategy targeting school leaders, teachers, parents and children themselves with consistent and relevant messages. The webwise.ie resource includes a dedicated School/Teachers Hub with extensive SPHE curricular supports, a Parents Hub and Youth Hub 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. A new online course for primary and post-primary teachers addressing the topic of cyberbullying is planned for 2022. The course will be provided by the PDST Technology In Education on their online platform Teacher CPD.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 in the coming weeks.  Online safety will be an important feature of the new strategy. 

My Department’s Wellbeing Policy Statement and Framework for Practice sets out the ambition and vision that the promotion of wellbeing will be at the core of the ethos of every school and that all schools will provide evidence-informed approaches and support, appropriate to need, to promote the wellbeing of their students and that Ireland will be recognised as a leader in this area.   

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.  

My Department’s Inspectorate is 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 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. 

 A ‘Research Observatory on Cyberbullying’ has been established at DCU which is 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.