Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We are obviously impatient for the change we all see. I have some sympathy for the consultation and the amount of time it takes. I refer to the recent NCCA review on sex education at almost every meeting in which we talk about RSE, and I reference the students' experience or their response. Obviously, that was a huge consultation. Some of that is politics, but one cannot deny the voice of the child and the student. The report said they were unanimous about the importance of this, so I have some sympathy as regards the amount of time it can take. As Dr. Sullivan said, if that was not done, and I am paraphrasing, there would be a problem with uptake or buy-in. If the NCCA did not do the consultation, where would that problem with buy-in be? Would it be in the school community? Perhaps he might respond on that.

Somebody was saying that at one of the recent festivals a comedian asked, "Who here still has nightmares about their leaving certificate?", and everyone put up their hand. We are literally traumatising children with examinations. We have had the discussion about CSPE not being an examination subject. I have some sympathy for it not being an examination subject. However, in an environment where the examination subject is all very intense and children need to get ready for examinations, how does one change the culture of CSPE and SPHE? It is not that long ago since I was in school, but from my experience how does one change that culture? Some might see these subjects as a bit of a joke and a time to take a breather or have a rest class or mess around. How do we change that culture so that they are serious? We live in a homophobic and sexist world and every time something terrible happens, whether it is fatal or an attack, we come back to the importance of CSPE and SPHE in schools. How do we change the culture whereby those subjects are seen as a bit of a joke sometimes?