Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. Could he ask the Department to check my particular query? I presume the section of the Education Act 1998 is applicable to all schools, whether private or public. Could the Minister of State confirm that, perhaps in the next few days?

Comments attributed to some of the education partners are important and set out clearly what the norms should be. Overall, schools are, and should be, supportive of pregnant teenagers and of young mothers. I refer to the comment of Mr. Clive Byrne, chief executive of the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals, who said, "It is the norm that schools routinely deal with issues like this in a supportive way". Mr. Ferdia Kelly, of the Joint Managerial Body, stated that pregnancy should never have been an issue. He said, "Schools are highly supportive and pastoral towards girls who find themselves pregnant. There is never a question of their position in the school coming into question." I also refer to the comment from the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland that every school should have an "open and transparent admissions policy which is inclusive, which actively promotes equality of access, and which is fully compliant with legislation". I hope the regulations and legislative framework can be put in place to ensure those policies are administered in every school. An important comment from the representative teen parents' support programme, Margaret Morris, states, "It is not acceptable that any school would not be supportive."

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