Education Minister must ensure online safety is embedded in school curriculum – Darren O’Rourke TD
9 April 2025
Sinn Féin spokesperson on Education and Youth, Darren O’Rourke TD, has called on Minister Helen McEntee to urgently act on the recommendations of the Online Safety Monitor 2025 report and to commence a review of school curricula at both primary and post-primary level in relation to online safety.
Speaking today, Teachta O’Rourke said:
“The Online Safety Monitor 2025 report, published by the Children’s Rights Alliance, highlights critical gaps in Ireland’s approach to online safety, including: Inaccessible digital literacy education for children with disabilities, minority backgrounds, or from disadvantaged communities; Inadequate teacher training, with many educators lacking confidence to deliver online safety lessons; No structured evaluations of existing programmes to ensure they meet children’s needs.
“Last night in the Dáil, I raised these exact concerns with Minister McEntee when I criticised the Government’s reliance on voluntary codes, poorly accessed resources and gimmicks such as the €9 million phone pouch scheme, which is little more than an expensive distraction from systemic failures.
“These failures are well highlighted in the Online Safety Monitor 2025 report.
“Children are being exposed to extreme violence, pornography, and hateful content on a round-the-clock basis, yet the Government’s response is fragmented and under-resourced.
“From an education perspective, we must learn from international best practice, where critical thinking and media literacy education are embedded across the entire curriculum and from pre-school onwards. These are core life skills that must be nurtured and developed. The Minister would do well to look at countries such as Finland in this regard.
“The Online Safety Monitor 2025 report recommends that the Department of Education review the curriculum at both primary and post primary level in relation to online safety and embed online safety education that aligns fully with children’s rights in the digital environment across the curriculum. This makes absolutely sense and is essential.
“I am calling on the Minister to act on this recommendation as a matter of priority.”
Link to Dáil Priority Question Debate here.
