Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 19 February 2026
343. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Education and Youth whether her Department has considered establishing a national reporting framework requiring schools to submit anonymised data on serious disciplinary incidents involving weapons; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13620/26]
View answer344. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Education and Youth whether her Department has issued specific national disciplinary guidance addressing incidents involving weapons on school premises, distinct from general critical incident guidance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13621/26]
View answer345. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Education and Youth how her Department satisfies itself that current governance arrangements adequately monitor trends in serious safety incidents, including weapon-related incidents, in the absence of centralised data collection; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13622/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 343 to 345, inclusive, together.
Under the provisions of the Education Act, 1998, the board of management is the body charged with the direct governance of a school on behalf of the school patron and has responsibility for ensuring the health and safety of its staff and pupils.
The board of management has responsibility for taking all reasonable precautions to ensure the safety of school personnel and pupils and to put appropriate safeguards in place to ensure as far as is reasonably practicable, the safety, health and welfare at work of its staff and of its students while they are attending the school or while participating in school activities.
All schools have been issued with a copy of the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) resource: Responding to Critical Incidents, which is available on the Department’s website, NEPs is also available, upon request from school authorities, to attend at a school to provide necessary direct assistance and advice to the school community. In addition, Tusla (Child and Family Agency) is the statutory body under the Child and Family Agency Act 2013 with specific statutory responsibility for the welfare and protection of children.
Where there is a concern or potential threat to the safety of the public, the responsibility for dealing with such a situation rests primarily with An Garda Síochána in accordance with its duty to protect the community, to undertake criminal investigations and to bring offenders to justice. The Department does not collate data on safety incidents in schools or disciplinary proceedings processed by schools. Crime statistics are maintained by An Garda Síochána as part of their overall role in helping to keep us all safe, including children attending schools.
