Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

There is outsourcing. In 2016 Accord delivered courses in 53 secondary schools and all 347 Catholic primary schools in Dublin. ETB schools also avail of its services. In response to a related question I sent to the Minister yesterday, he stated he would review the funding of the Meitheal and Ember programmes because even though they were not in the area of RSE, they were related to student self-esteem and development. The programmes have been receiving an endowment from the State, even though they are denominational and only deal with young people who are Catholic. We also find that boys' schools do not provide sex education as much as girls' schools. Girls are meant to be the gatekeepers when it comes to sexuality. There is an ethos which is based on waiting until the time is right; it is not an all-encompassing view of sexuality but tends to be about watching out for this and not doing it. There is a clear link between quality sex education and lower levels of crisis pregnancies. Surely that is something in which there should be an interest in developing.

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