The Irish Second-Level Students’ Union (ISSU) welcomes the Government’s “Action Plan on Bullying”, which was launched in the Department of Education today. The ISSU has been strongly involved in developing this plan, with Equality Officer Mark Caffrey sitting on the Anti-Bullying Working Group which helped to develop it, and he is looking forward to its full implementation. ISSU Equality Officer, Mark Caffrey said; ‘Bullying is something which we know affects our students hugely – around one quarter of students are likely to have experienced some form of bullying in the past couple of months, and I’m delighted that an action plan to tackle this head on has been launched today.  Bullying is a serious problem, so it needs to be taken seriously. ‘Schools need to be given the necessary supports in order to manage and prevent bullying in all forms, and we need to make sure that parents are aware of the role they can plan in both preventing bullying, and intervening in an appropriate way where it is occurring.  Tackling homophobic bullying and cyber bullying are key focuses of this action plan, and we look forward to working with other partners to see it implemented’. ISSU President, Dylan Grace said; ‘Bullying can have very serious consequences and it’s important that everyone involved in education play their part in stopping bullying.  The Action Plan on Bullying is very thorough in its approach and recommendations, and I am very encouraged by the commitment shown by the Department of Education and Skills and our other education partners in tackling the scourge of bullying in our schools’. The Action Plan is available here.