Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

I too was interested in the findings in the report, Irish Study of Sexual Health and Relationships, launched by my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children.

The survey, unsurprisingly, highlighted major changes in sexual behaviour and attitudes in Ireland in recent decades. It also drew attention to challenges that must be faced from both a public health and an education point of view.

From my Department's perspective, the survey clearly highlighted the value of sex education. Of note is the finding that 18 to 24 year olds were the most likely of all the age groups to have received sex education and the most likely to use contraception.

As the Deputy will be aware, many positive developments in the teaching of relationships and sexuality education have taken place in recent years, and these have been further strengthened through making social, personal and health education a mandatory programme for junior cycle since September 2003. The impact of this would not have been reflected in the survey. RSE is now a core part of SPHE at primary and at junior cycle level. While a senior cycle SPHE course is currently being developed, all schools are already required to have an RSE programme at senior cycle.

At primary level, the SPHE programme covers areas such as taking care of my body, growing and changing, relating to others and safety and protection. At an age-appropriate stage, children learn about differences between the male and female body, the changes that occur at puberty and how the reproductive systems work. By the end of sixth class they are also expected to be able to understand sexual intercourse and birth within the context of a committed loving relationship.

The RSE support service provides information evenings for parents. These aim to inform parents about the RSE programme and to help them to communicate more effectively with their children about sex and relationships. The support service has also worked with the National Parents' Council (Primary) to develop a six-week RSE parent training programme.

At second level, the RSE programme covers areas such as sexually transmitted infections, human fertility, family planning and sexual orientation.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

All schools are expected to teach all aspects of the RSE programme, regardless of their ethos. They are also required to draw up an RSE policy through a collaborative process of consultation with parents, teachers and members of the board of management.

Schools are supported in the implementation of RSE by the SPHE and RSE support services. They provide guidelines on policy development, curricula and teacher guidelines, information for parents, teaching resource materials and teacher training. Schools are also encouraged to use the resources produced by the Health Promotion Unit.

There have been many positive developments in the area of relationships and sexuality education in recent years. Nonetheless, this is an important and rigorous study and I have asked the RSE support service to consider its findings carefully.

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