Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I am going to return to Familiaris Consortio. In his opening statement, Mr. Curtis said that the position of the Catholic schools on sex education was outlined in this document. Does he agree that RSE in Catholic schools should be taught in the context of that document's statement that "in this context, education for chastity is absolutely essential"? Does he agree that this should inform the teaching of RSE in Catholic schools today? Does he agree that the imparting of "sex information dissociated from moral principles ... would ... be an introduction to the experience of pleasure and a stimulus leading to the loss of serenity ... by opening the way to vice"?

There can be lots of reasons for teachers to be uncomfortable teaching RSE. One of the reasons cited by teachers is a sense that because of the characteristic spirit of the school, they can walk into difficult territory and that by answering certain questions or giving certain information they can contravene the characteristic spirit of the school. Do Mr. Curtis and Dr. Gormley agree?

The last comments by Dr. Gormley get to the point of Senator Ruane's question. Section 9(d) of the Education Act, 1998, provides that a recognised school shall use its available resources to "promote the moral, spiritual, social and personal development of students, and provide health education for them, in consultation with their parents, having regard to the characteristic spirit of the school." That is key. Does Mr. Curtis agree that it gives a legal right to Catholic schools to mediate - which is the word he has used - the content of the curriculum in respect of RSE? A key question for us is whether we need to deal with that.