Ms Moninne Griffith:

I have taken a note of that and will add it to my list.

Schools are required to address homophobic and transphobic bullying as part of the national action plan on bullying. The problem is that some schools claim it does not happen as they have no LGBT students in their schools. Having this as part of the incidental inspection or the whole-school evaluation would ensure schools address it. It would also provide a way to evaluate and monitor that something is being done. Schools are supposed to keep a log of homophobic and transphobic bullying. However, those figures are not sent up to the Department of Education and Skills, meaning we have no way of monitoring whether it is enforced in schools or not.

As to Deputy Hildegarde Naughton's question on what is being taught in schools, the RSE, relationships and sexuality education, Growing Up LGBT programme is comprehensive and we are involved in updating it. There is a junior cycle and senior cycle. It talks about respectful communication, gender, coming out, friendship, prejudice, discrimination, relationships, trans identities, supports and celebrations. It would be great if this was being taught in schools as it addresses many of the issues.

Safe and supportive schools is a whole-school community programme developed by the HSE with the support of BeLonG To. It involves everybody in the school community, not just the teaching staff, including parents and the board of management, along with social workers, GPs and youth workers getting involved. They develop curriculum, policy, planning, training of staff members and boards of management, direct support to young people through linking in with LGBT youth groups and community partnership. It is independently evaluated and has been rolled out in some of the larger schools in Donegal and the north west with fantastic results. Many of the evaluated schools have reported a much better environment not just for LGBT students but for all students. It encourages issues such as LGBT identities to be discussed openly with everybody involved in the students' lives, working on policies which encourage empathy and encouraging young people to stand up for themselves and for their friends.

Stand Up awareness week happens every November in secondary schools. The results from that are positive. Young people who have reported back to us have said seeing a poster in the school or the teachers involved is positive. In one school, all teachers posed in a photograph wearing rainbow shirts. That sends a strong message to young people, making them feel welcome and included. The simplest things make a young person feel there is somebody in the school they can come out to and that they belong there. When they are ready, then they know they can get the support they need.

On the interaction between sex education and bullying, generally in the curriculum there must be greater inclusion, visibility and normalisation - if one will forgive that word - of LGBT identities. One young woman told me last year that in her school they were talking about Oscar Wilde in English class. When she said Oscar Wilde was gay, her teacher said that we do not talk about that in school. This is perhaps the most famous gay Irish man in history. That reinforces that there is something wrong about being gay. She was rightly enraged about it. Another person, who might not be quite as empowered as this young woman, might internalise those messages and feel there is something wrong. With the high level of self-harm and suicidal ideation we are seeing among the young people we are supporting across the country, it is too important an issue not to address. This is a major health issue. It really is important that we ensure our LGBT young people belong in our school system.

I thank Senator Warfield for sharing his story. Unfortunately, it is not unique. I have heard many of those stories from young people who have come into us for support. Has it improved in the schools system? I wish I could tell the Senator it has. In some schools it has. There are amazing teachers, principals, great leaders and boards of management who are making inroads to ensuring schools are safe and supportive for LGBT students. However, that is not across the board everywhere. There is an absence of role models. Many young people have told us how important it is to have teachers who are out on the staff team. In general, the acknowledgement that such and such an architect was gay or that poet was a lesbian or gender recognition is discussed in a politics class have a hugely powerful impact for young people.

Including it in the whole-school inspection came up in the LGBT youth strategy as a solution. We are open to other solutions around this. It was just a way of trying to encourage and support schools to ensure they are complying with their obligations under the national action plan on bullying and ensuring our schools are safe and supportive for LGBT young people.

I have heard from many young people across the country. In the consultation of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs as part of the LGBT youth strategy, over 4,000 young people were surveyed. Not all of them identified as LGBTI+. They listed their concerns over safety and inclusion. Time and again, including in the consultation and recently in the Budding Burning Issues survey in Gay Community News, inclusive sex education always arises in the top three issues of importance. On what we can do about this, I have outlined some of the solutions already. Safe and Supportive Schools is an excellent model because it involves everyone and because it is inclusive of diversity and difference across the board. Focusing on LGBT young people is wonderful but it actually has a knock-on effect for young people who may be different in any way. I hope I have answered the questions.