Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to address a vital issue that affects the formative years of many LGBTQI students and young people across this State. Last week, a report from the University of Limerick's school of sociology entitled, Exploring Homophobia and Transphobia in Primary Schools in Ireland, was published, further highlighting the issue of derogation of LGBTQI aspects of the relationships and sexuality education in social, personal and health education, SPHE, curricula by ethos-based schools. As the Minister of State is aware, the Education Act 1998 states that an ethos-based school can derogate from certain aspects of curricula in order to uphold the characteristic spirit of the school. In practical terms, this means that many pupils across the State are not taught and informed how to have safe sex, the boundaries of consent, relevant health information or how to have healthy relationships because of their sexuality or gender identity. This serves to cement the stigma and isolation that a young person feels during his or her formative years, when his or her sexuality or gender identity is not perceived as a norm, or moral as dictated to him or her by the ethos of a school.

The LGBTIreland report finds that must LGBTQI young people discover their sexual orientation or gender identity for themselves at an average age of 12 years. Many of the same young people who may have their first sexual experience before leaving secondary school are forced to attempt to piece together an informed, but potentially distorted, view of relationships and sexuality from heteronormative teachings in the hope of staying safe. Many relationship, sexuality education and SPHE teachers are on the record identifying their fear of the narrow confines of the syllabus and how best to deliver it.

I want to talk briefly about organisations like ShoutOut, BeLonG To and commend all organisations which support our young people. I want to point out that not all ethos-based schools confine their relationships and sexuality education, RSE, models to heterosexuality and that many work hard to ensure that their pupils are informed in an inclusive and equal setting.I also want to remark on the great work done by ShoutOut and BeLonG To in providing informative workshops and compiling teaching resources to aid schools in informing their students on these issues. I welcome the fact the Department has been proactive on the baptism barrier. While I may disagree on logistics, the steps taken will help secular families to access education. Similar steps must be taken to ensure that no child is denied informative health and welfare-based education. Are the Department and the Minister with responsibility open to a legislative remedy for this issue?