Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour)

We have come a long way from the story of Anne Lovett, a girl of 15 years who died in her school uniform while giving birth to a child in 1984. We have come a long way since a member of my own family was refused re-entry to her secondary school 20 years ago on becoming pregnant at 17 years. Irish society has moved on, but our legislation has not. It is important to recognise in this House that there are many schools around the country which deal with this situation every day in a compassionate, caring and understanding manner. If we bring ourselves back to the days of Anne Lovett, we are back to a situation where we isolate and condemn and push teenage parents out of the education system.

Pending the introduction of legislation, the Minister should ask the Department to issue a circular immediately to all secondary schools to advise them how to deal with such cases. They are doing so under their own policies. They need guidance and policy advice from the Department. I recognise that the Minister has pre-empted this discussion by creating a working group on admissions policies and indicating that the legislation is pending. However, in this case, we need a circular immediately from the Department.

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