Mary Moran (Labour)

I, too, welcome the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, and Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn, to the House. That they are both here for this debate indicates how serious they are about tackling the issue raised in the Bill introduced this afternoon by Senator Power. I also welcome the visitors in the Gallery mentioned by Senator Bacik, including the president of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation.

I welcome the principle of the Bill introduced by Senator Power and congratulate her on bringing it forward. It provides a welcome opportunity to address the issues in policy terms, which debate it is hoped will establish cross-party support for the principle of the reform. I congratulate Senator Zappone on her powerful and evocative contribution this afternoon. I wholeheartedly agree with her that we are perhaps not going far enough and that the section concerned needs to be deleted.

I welcome the announcement by the Minister, Deputy Shatter, that he will refer the matter for advice to the new human rights and equality commission when established. Following its report, I look forward to the Minister returning to the Seanad in the new year with more developed proposals. I, too, would welcome a date in this regard. It is hoped Senator Power will take this into consideration and will agree to return the Bill to the Order Paper until the New Year.

We are all unanimous that discrimination against people on the basis of religion or sexual preference needs to be removed and that all people have equal right to employment, free from harassment and discrimination. As a teacher for many years, I witnessed how our education system evolved over the past decade. We now have students from different religions and countries in our schools, whose cultures and beliefs are incorporated therein. It is great to see our children embrace children of other religions, faiths and cultures.

Yesterday, I raised the case of the 16 year old who became pregnant and was refused entry to a school because according to its principal it was against the ethos of the school to admit her. We are all agreed that this type of discrimination needs to be removed immediately and that all children should be entitled to an education regardless of colour or creed. The programme for Government states that people of non-faith or minority religious backgrounds and publicly identified LGBT people should not be deferred from training or taking up employment in the State. I commend the Minister, Deputy Quinn, on his recent announcement of his intention to develop within a few weeks proposals for Government on this issue.

As I stated, I support the principle of Senator Power's Bill. However, I am concerned that it might not be fully compatible with the Constitution. In addition, there may be better ways of doing this that could eliminate discrimination more completely, as pointed out by Senator Zappone. I agree with the sentiments expressed by Senator O'Sullivan that education, particularly in schools, is based on what children learn. As a parent and former teacher, I totally agree with the sentiment that it is what children learn, rather than the beliefs of those teaching them, that is important.