Mary O'Rourke (Fianna Fail)

I am telling the Senator what happened. I was quite appalled and I was always struck by how they did not understand that the programme was being implemented for the good of children. I was deemed morally lax and it was thought that I had gone down the primrose path of dalliance with all sorts of depraved people who were leading me in the wrong direction.

I am concerned that the programme is available only in 75% of schools, and Senator Henry and I raised this matter at the time of the creation of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse. Deputies questioned the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Hanafin, on this issue, yet the level is still at 75%. Why is the Stay Safe programme not in every school in the land? It is a commonsense programme telling children who meet adults frequently how to deal with strangers who approach them, and it began long before the Internet was popular.

I decided to speak on this Bill for the purpose I have outlined and was very pleased when I heard what Senator Henry said. I am sure the parents who came to my clinic meant well for their children, as do all parents regardless of whether they lean to the left or right. They want their children to grow into good adults with a better quality of life, but in the case of the Stay Safe programme, they were incorrect and that opened my eyes.

When one tries merely to address many issues affecting life in Ireland, one can find oneself in another situation, surrounded by a wall and with a label around one's neck suggesting one is, for example, in favour of the sexual exploitation of children. The same applied to the divorce referendum. If one dared utter the word "divorce", it meant one supported it entirely for every man and woman in the land.