Ms Davina Clancy:

I represent the Galway City Council Comhairle na nÓg.

I will speak about our concrete evidence about the teaching of RSE throughout Ireland. As the committee can see, one of the slides shows that Dáil na nÓg council conducted a survey in 2009 about relationships and sexuality education. In 2009, 74% of students did not receive any sexual education at all and only 26% of students in the senior cycle did. The graph shows: 63% of students never received relationships and sexual education within senior cycle at school; 19% received it once a week; 8% received it every few months; 7% received it more once a week: 2% received it once every two weeks; and 1% received it once a month.

In 2007, the then Department of Education and Science conducted a study on relationships and sexuality education implementation. These are merely a few statistics showing the reasons, according to teachers and principals, it is difficult to teach the curriculum. Some 82% of teachers and principals stated that, because the curriculum is overcrowded, they do not get to the whole curriculum in the year. Some 71% of them found it uncomfortable to talk about sexual education in a class and, therefore, did not teach it. Some 67% of teachers and principals state that there is too much pressure on examination years and, therefore, this subject is left behind.

Comhairle na nÓg also conducted a survey in Donegal in 2011. This is the most recent survey conducted by Comhairle na nÓg. I pick Donegal specifically because its Comhairle na nÓg has been coming back year in, year out in trying to help sexual education in schools. Many surveys have been done around Ireland but this is the one that I decided to speak about today. Donegal Comhairle na nÓg came back with the following information. There is gender segregation in schools. Certain schools will only teach girls or will only teach boys relationships and sexual education, they split up classes and divide students up in this teaching. It has shown that topics depend on the teacher's preference, and not on the health of the students. Also, LGBT issues are rarely ever addressed in schools. Mainly because of these problems, children then must find information for themselves on television, on the Internet, in the media and from their peers who give them inaccurate information on sexual education. As the committee can see, it has led - we do not have any concrete evidence on this - to the rise of teen pregnancies in Ireland.

I thank the committee for listening and I will now hand over to Mr. McCarrick.