Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The committee drew attention to a number of concerns on the points the Deputy has made. It expressed concerns about the period during which the programme was delivered and the fact that it could be delivered as part of religious education. As the Department has made clear, schools do not have the option of not delivering the full curriculum. The Deputy and the committee are right - we need to have a look at the programme and that is what the committee will do. It made the comment that many teachers were not comfortable teaching RSE and that, therefore, it was left to a minority of teachers or outsourced to an agency. Clearly, this needs to be looked at. As I stated, agencies cannot be used to provide the entire programme. While agencies can deliver part of it, the school must have a comprehensive programme to deliver it. Of course, the inspectorate will have to be satisfied that that is the case. These are important points, points the group will examine and that we will take seriously. I wanted to give the Deputy the background to the existing policies and what supports were available for schools to ensure the programme was delivered properly.

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