Deirdre Clune (Fine Gael)

I am glad to have the opportunity to speak on this motion. I support the call for the social, personal and health education programme and relationships and sexuality education to be fully implemented and extended. Senator Healy Eames referred to the difficulty teachers and parents have in finding language to address issues and talk to young people. I was reminded of myself as a teenager and my convent education. We used to have retreats every year and there was a question box where we could submit questions. It was probably a good idea but as we got older we learned the old adage that one never asks a question unless one knows the answer. We used to dream up the most shocking questions to see how the nuns would react. Some things never change.

I am not a teacher but as a parent I was interested when the social, personal and health education programme and relationships and sexuality education was being introduced in 1996 and 1997. We had informative meetings on a regional basis in Cork and in local schools. The course met with many objections from parents, which was a pity.