Last month I highlighted a report released by CyberSafeIreland on childhood safety and cyber issues. The report set out that 84% of the teachers surveyed had said they did not cover online safety on the curriculum, while 64% had said they did not have sufficient resources. We need to have a debate in the House on this very serious issue which is only getting worse, given the extent to which technology and online developments are so far ahead of those who make policy in this area. A new survey conducted by the national anti-bullying centre at DCU and released yesterday emphasises the need for additional measures to combat this scourge as a matter of priority. Only one in three parents feels confident that he or she can protect children online. Parental concerns revolve around risks of cyberbullying, access to pornographic content, online grooming and generally spending too much time on the Internet. When it comes to lifestyle issues, the last mentioned is the biggest of them all. Children are going online at an increasingly younger age. Combined with the exponential growth in the use of mobile phones, this presents an immense challenge for parents. The latest study highlighted how new apps and social media platforms are coming onto the market all of the time and being targeted at children as young as nine years. A second report out today also confirms that one in ten children in Ireland says he or she has been cyberbullied. Both reports are being released to highlight Safer Internet Day which is tomorrow. They call for parental education on digital technologies and their use.

Meanwhile, the survey of parental attitudes conducted last month among parents of children aged zero to 18 years found that they employed a range of strategies to try to protect their children, the most common being limiting screen time. As most children are now accessing the Internet on tablets and mobile phones, it is very difficult for parents to have any control. Certainly, they cannot watch their children on a 24/7 basis. Of parents, 53% are happy with how they monitor their children's usage of the Internet, but 40% admit that it is easy for their children to use the Internet without their knowledge. I ask the Leader to arrange a debate on this issue and suggest to the relevant Minister that we create a one-stop-shop to deal with this issue nationally. There should be strategic campaigns for parents and a backup service to help them to deal with the issue of cyberbullying.