Luke Flanagan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We are at a point where we could potentially go backwards and forget about all the gains that have been made on this issue over the years, or we could drive it further forward by fighting what RTE has done and getting it to row back on it. That would end up as a good news story overall. While we have won many battles on this, it is still an acceptable term of abuse in a national school in this country to call someone gay. It means there is something wrong with a person, not necessarily his or her sexuality. It is used as a negative term. It is in the secondary schools. An 11-year-old girl took part in a debate in a national school in my town where she spoke in favour of gay marriage and the whole classroom started laughing at her. They are hearing that somewhere at home. We need to drive this forward rather than going back into the dark ages. Unfortunately, the Minister has pointed the compass in the wrong direction.

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