Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is about raising boys in all the richness of life rather than in the traditional way, or not ascribing value to being at the top of the class in football and all those different things. I completely agree with our guests in respect of the teaching of consent. It is not just to what one is not consenting, but also to what one is consenting. I do not understand how consent can be taught without having a positive conversation about that and explaining what it is that one is consenting to so that it can be understood to what one is not consenting I remember meeting a group about two years ago that was trying to bring that into the curriculum in different ways. It was really different and advanced. I had not seen anything like it before that. When we get to that stage in the context of RSE I will be very pleased.

I note that the ISSU had an interaction with the Department in respect of the junior cycle RSE programme. The Department is developing a new programme for the junior cycle. As far as I can see, it has not begun work on the primary or senior cycles. Did the ISSU get to contribute to the extensive consultation on the junior cycle RSE changes?