To ask the Minister of Education, pursuant to AQW 12272/22-27, how his Department is using this data to identify actions needed.

The data provided to you in AQW 12272/22-27 is indicative of the number of additional interventions that have been put in place in educational settings where an incident of harmful sexual behaviour has occurred following the introduction of Circular 2022/02. These figures are demonstrative of the number of children receiving additional supports, as a preventative measure, rather than of the number of incidents of harmful sexual behaviour.

I can confirm that my Department is working closely with the Departments of Health and Justice on the draft Domestic and Sexual Abuse Strategy and has included the number of Risk Assessment Management Plans as a performance indicator. My officials are also contributing to ongoing work on the implementation of the Gillen Review and the development of the Ending Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, where this data can be provided as the Departments work together to ensure that issues surrounding the rise of harmful sexual behaviour are addressed as widely as possible.