Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 7 November 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills

Consent Programmes in Irish Education: Discussion

Photo of Fiona O'LoughlinFiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for attending. It is good to see them all. In particular, it is good to see Ms McDowell, who has done incredible advocacy work in this and related areas. That is much appreciated.

I had the opportunity a few years ago to attend a consent class in Trinity College Dublin and was really impressed with it. In particular, I was impressed the attendance was 50% men and 50% women, which was important. I acknowledge all the strong work that has been going on in this area since then. When the previous education committee published recommendations on RSE, there was quite a bit of pushback from the patron bodies of schools and from some parents. I met a few parents myself, mainly dads, who were concerned some of the recommendations might lead their daughters to be more promiscuous. I tried to make the point it was about trying to protect their daughters and giving them the language and the understanding that it is absolutely okay to say "No" and not to be in a position whereby they are coerced. With the pilot programme that has been carried out in post-primary schools, has there been pushback from schools of a certain ethos?