Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am happy to speak briefly about this matter. All of us in the House want to see the comprehensive provision of sex and relationships education that is fact-based and responsible, but the recommendations of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution, to which the Bill refers, go much further. The committee's report reads as follows:

The Committee recommends a thorough review of sexual health and relationships education, including the areas of contraception and consent, in primary and post-primary schools, colleges, youth clubs and ... information should be provided in an impartial and factual manner that is independent of school ethos.

I repeat that it will have to be "independent of school ethos". As one commentator has observed:

Aside from the less than subtle and patronising tone, there are deeply troubling aspects to this resolution that demand further analysis. Generally speaking it represents a direct threat to the ability of denominational schools to advance their own view of human sexuality and intimacy. Indeed in its own way it is a charter for conflict.

I honestly believe that to be the case. The same commentator observed that questions arise about who exactly will decide whether sex education teaching in schools is impartial:

Who gets to decide the parameters of such impartiality is anyone's guess. Only one thing is clear; if the Committee gets its way [and if the proposition before the House this evening is accepted] it will most certainly not be parents.

This commentator argued that "the last phrase of the resolution ... most starkly encapsulates the intentions of the Committee when it says sex education must be "independent of school ethos"." It is very stark that the committee recommended, with no ifs or buts, that sexual education must be independent of school ethos. This commentator on medical ethics continued:

Not only is this a clear statement of intent, it is also a damning judgement on the perceived capacity of denominational schools to formulate a coherent approach to human sexuality and sexual behaviour in general.  This is effectively a rebuke by the Committee to all parents who would seek to have their children educated in the light of the Christian vision of sexual intimacy ... We may well ask then what does 'independent of ethos' amount to but a statement of breath-taking, arrogant over-reach where the constitutional acknowledgement of parents as the primary educators of their children is [completely] obliterated.

That is the fundamental reason I will not be supporting the Bill before the House. I will also oppose it on further Stages.

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