Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It has been incredibly interesting listening to everybody. Listening to what has been mentioned by Deputy Paul Murphy, the same thought had struck me that in some of the evidence we heard at our second meeting, the lowest amount of sex education was in single-sex male schools. One of the witnesses spoke correctly about the gender issue and the impact on girls and young women. However, if we call males the "perpetrators" in that position, and if they are not getting the appropriate education they are, to a certain extent, victims as well. We need to ensure that both young men and women get the appropriate sex education in the proper way, with clarity and the appropriate facts.

Dr. Saidléar and Ms McGowan spoke about B4UDecide, which seems to be a really good resource. They, and particularly Dr. Saidléar, highlighted that there are a significant number of resources and networks that are available for teachers and schools but there seems to be an issue with schools taking that on board. There is a space for co-ordination that absolutely needs to happen. I would imagine there is a role for all of those within a new model of RSE. If much of the work has been done, we do not need to reinvent the wheel but rather ensure it comes together and is coherent.

Mr. Seery spoke about the use of student facilitators with appropriate roles, and that is a really good model. Is it something that would be effective at post-primary level in terms of peer support? There is also the issue of choosing young people for it, as it is a very important role in itself. It might be helpful and supportive for younger students, particularly with the idea of gender equality officers. I mentioned at a meeting before how I was struck by a Comhairle na nÓg workshop that I attended. There was a real concern among young people in post-primary school about the lack of support they felt was evident for those who are identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transsexual, LGBT. It is something we could do much with. Foróige's Relationships Explored and Life Uncovered, REAL U, programme has absolutely been noted as a gold standard. It has been mentioned at some of our other meetings as well. Have schools ever asked for Foróige to come in and deliver that? The group has an existing network of trained facilitators and this would be important for us.

This is an ongoing debate about internal versus external approaches and there should be a mix of both. When there are experts in the area, as outlined by Dr. Saidléar, we need those people with an incredible wealth of knowledge and experience in dealing with specific situations. We all know that sometimes some young people will open up more or take more from somebody they may not see again. They feel more free about it. Equally, it is vital that there would be a support mechanism within every school. It is the notion of having somebody whose responsibility is to ensure a robust RSE policy is delivered. They should have that adequate training - the ten-day training mentioned by Ms McGowan - and ensure that there is a holistic view in the school. The teacher should have that as an absolute responsibility within middle management. There is an issue relating to inspection or vetting of external people coming to schools. It is important in the context of setting a policy.

I could go on for a while but I will not. I will go to Ms Haslam and Dr. Neary first as they indicated a wish to speak at the end of the previous contributions.