Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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288. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she has obtained legal advice on the compatibility of Bí Cineálta and related SPHE requirements with Articles 41 and 42 of the Constitution and section 9 of the Education Act, if so, to outline the key considerations that informed her Department's position, and the statutory basis relied upon to require whole-school implementation where parents do not consent to defined elements of the programme. [68833/25]

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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289. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the safeguarding assessment undertaken by her Department before finalising Bí Cineálta, including the methodology used, the evidence sources reviewed, and whether recent reports such as the Cass Review and the HSS evidence review were examined, and if she will publish the assessment or its summary findings. [68834/25]

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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290. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to set out the procedures that schools are required to follow when a parent withholds consent from specific elements of Bí Cineálta or SPHE content, including the recording of non-consent, the supervision or alternative learning arrangements to be provided, and the instructions issued to schools to ensure that such pupils are not identified or stigmatised. [68835/25]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 288, 289 and 290 together.

Cineáltas: Action Plan on Bullying was published on 1st December 2022. Cineáltas is my department’s whole-education approach to preventing and addressing bullying behaviour in schools.

Cineáltas is dedicated to the prevention and addressing of bullying behaviour including cyber bullying, racist bullying, gender identity bullying and sexual harassment, among other areas, in schools. It is centred on a child rights-based approach and provides a collective vision and clear roadmap for how the whole education community and society can work together to prevent and address bullying behaviour in our schools.

Cineáltas incorporates each of the nine components of UNESCO’s Whole Education Approach to prevent and address bullying behaviour. It is rooted in four key principles: prevention, support, oversight and community. Implementation of Cineáltas is well advanced. The first annual implementation report was published on 02 July 2025.

One of the more significant actions under Cineáltas was to update the 2013 Anti-Bullying Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools. This action has been completed with the publication, on 19 June 2024, of Bí Cineálta: Procedures to Prevent and Address Bullying Behaviour for Primary and Post-Primary Schools. These updated procedures were developed in collaboration with the education partners, including the National Parents Council, and are heavily informed by the views of children and young people, parents, school staff, Board of Management members and the wider education community.

An extensive consultation process was carried out to inform the development of Cineáltas and the Bí Cineálta procedures. Over 4,600 responses were received from the public consultation in addition to 78 submissions received from the request for submissions. 170 children and young people from diverse backgrounds were also consulted. A number of organisations and individuals presented to the Cineáltas Steering Committee. Further details of the consultation process and the consultation reports can be found at:

www.gov.ie/en/department-of-education/publications/cine%c3%a1ltas-action-plan-on-bullying/#reports-on-consultation-processes

The Bí Cineálta procedures are centred on a child rights-based approach and support a partnership approach where all members of the school community work together to prevent and address bullying behaviour. The procedures have been updated to take account of gender identity bullying, cyberbullying, racist bullying, sexist bullying, and sexual harassment. They support schools to develop clear strategies to prevent and address these bullying behaviours. The Bí Cineálta procedures must be implemented in schools by the beginning of the 2025/2026 school year.

Implementation of the procedures is supported by a suite of professional learning resources and information sessions for school staff, Board of Management members and parents. Information seminars on the updated procedures were held throughout October 2024 which were open to school leaders from every school. From November 2024, Oide offered in-person professional learning to two staff members from every school in the country.

All schools could avail of a half-day closure in the 2024/2025 school year in order to engage with all school staff on the requirements of the updated anti-bullying procedures. Additionally, management bodies have updated their training for Boards of Management and the National Parents Council has updated their training for parents.

The Bí Cineálta procedures include a template for schools to use for their Bí Cineálta policy. This template includes common text that all schools must use in their policy. Schools must outline the preventative strategies that they will use and the steps that will be taken to address incidents of bullying behaviour if and when they occur. Every school can decide, as a school community, on what strategies and actions they deem appropriate to adopt in its Bí Cineálta policy.

I acknowledge that under the Constitution the primary and natural educator of the child is the Family and guarantees to respect the inalienable right and duty of parents to provide, according to their means, for the religious and moral, intellectual, physical and social education of their children.

Parents are a critical stakeholder in our education system. Parents’ views contribute to a wide range of policies and other developments across my department.

The National Parents Council is a national representative body for parents of children in primary and post-primary education and plays an important role as a channel of communication between parents and my department. My department provides annual funding to the National Parents Council to support this work and its work to support parents’ associations in schools. My department also provides annual funding to the National Parents Council to provide anti-bullying training for parents.

My department takes child protection matters very seriously and considers the protection and welfare of children to be a fundamental responsibility of all involved in the care and education of children.

In accordance with Section 30 of the Education Act, 1998, parents have a right to have their children opt out of classes which are contrary to the conscience of the parent if they so wish.

The manner in which any school ensures that the right to opt out of classes is upheld is a matter for the school concerned. The school must determine the particular arrangements which are most appropriate in its individual circumstances having regard to local issues such as available space, supervision requirements and how the school concerned organises classes etc.