Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 5 July 2018

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills

Review of Relationships and Sexuality Education: Discussion (Resumed)

9:30 am

Photo of Robbie GallagherRobbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I found this debate to be informative. What I will take away from the meeting is that we all want the best for children. I speak as a parent. What I want for my children is that they would be as best equipped as possible to face the many challenges that lie ahead of them. Mr. Curtis said that in many ways here we are like a rabbit in a headlight and that is true. The world is moving at such a pace that we are all struggling to keep abreast of developments, be they in social media or wherever. As parents, there are many challenges in how we interpret what is going on around us and how best to equip our children. A key component in all this is the home and what the child hears from his or her parents. We cannot lose faith that although we hand them over to our teachers for a few hours a day, fundamentally children will be developed primarily by what they hear in the home.

I am encouraged now that we are undergoing this process. All of us are coming at it from different angles but ultimately we all want the best for our children. We have to give this process space. I welcome the fact that we are having this conversation. I am confident that all of our hopes and aspirations in respect of this end process will be incorporated into the report.

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