Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Concerning the way schools have divested in recent times and lay people are now chairs and boards of management are being encouraged in this regard, I am not sure what way to frame this question but hopefully the witnesses will understand the gist of where I am coming from when I say there would have been an issue in the past when teachers would have said they were members of the LBGTQ community. Is this still an issue or do teachers and staff now have more confidence to come out and say they are very proud to be a member of the LBGTQ community? In the context of any research and work done with stakeholders and teacher unions, has it been found that this is as big an issue now as it was years ago? As we all know, this was a major issue. Many teachers contacted me when I was first elected to this House in 2002 and all along after that. In the last five years, though, this situation has changed. It is an issue in some schools, but it has changed for the better.