Fiach MacConghail (Independent)

I sent her a text asking if she had received relationship and sexuality education in school and saying that I had to speak in the Seanad. I received a reply very quickly saying they never got anything like that and that the only thing they got was in sixth class. I will not go through how she spelled all of that. Essentially, her last relationship and sexuality education class was in the sixth class, some three years ago. She is now going into transition year but without receiving one such class.

My eldest daughter has just finished six years in secondary school and the only time there was any engagement around sexuality was in leaving certificate biology class. That is astonishing. I am privileged to be a middle class person and to have been able to send her to the school to which I wanted to send her but we are dealing with an issue which has a great impact on the mental health of our young people.

The barriers to RSE are also referred to in the report which provides interesting statistics and which I am sure the Minister knows. It surveyed "very important" to "quite important" factors preventing full RSE implementation in post-primary schools. Some 82% of schools agreed that the overcrowded curriculum was a barrier. Some 71% agreed that the need to complete so many courses in so many subjects was a barrier. Some 71% agreed that the discomfort of some teachers teaching RSE was a barrier. That is quite high and refers to a deficit in the training of post-primary teachers, to which I will refer later. The final barrier to RSE implementation was the pressure of examination subjects. My daughters deserve full access to RSE in school.

What are the next steps? We would like an updated and complete audit on what is happening in schools with regard to RSE. School principals are key opinion formers in the education system. I understand the Minister is about to change a significant portion of school boards and change patronage. It is an opportunity to let boards of management know that RSE should be seen as a priority and not left to schools' own devices. Principals should be encouraged to drive and implement SPHE and RSE as a priority and perhaps tie it into the Croke Park deal. Greater productivity in this area will make a healthier society.

Currently, if one trains to be a secondary school teacher, one does not have to do the SPHE or RSE module, unlike primary teachers. Approximately six years ago, the OECD recommended that post-primary teacher training in RSE should be concurrent and not consecutive and, therefore, optional - in other words, when one does one's Higher Diploma in Education, one does not have to engage in RSE training. That is a deficit which could be linked to the Croke Park deal.

There is an obvious link to the positive mental health of our young people and how sexuality and development are taught in schools. We should have another debate in the Seanad early in 2012 when the Minister has an opportunity to come back with recommendations and an audit on the progress of the recommendations of the 2007 report. I commend the motion to the House.