Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

I acknowledge that role. It is written into the Constitution and it takes precedence over any legislation. The parent or parents are the primary and natural educators of the child and no legislation enacted in these Houses can ever detract from that. It is important to note that we are dealing with a subsection that imposes an obligation on a principal in regard to the preparation of an education plan. We are not talking about the rights of parents; we are talking about the duties of principals.

There has been much discussion in these Houses in recent years about rights-based legislation. One cannot have rights-based legislation unless one has clear corresponding duties imposed on specified individuals. Rights do not exist in a vacuum. They require further enforcement and their vindication requires the existence of corresponding duties.