Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise issues around certain groups who are currently campaigning against the reform of the relationship and sexuality education curriculum in our schools. The groups are whipping up fear. For a number of weeks they have circulated leaflets across the State. For a number of months they have been holding public meetings and there was a meeting at the Spawell venue in Templeogue last night.

One group is called Let Kids be Kids. It has distributed leaflets, and participated on radio shows such as "The Niall Boylan Show" on Classic Hits 4FM and on fake news outlets such as Gript Media. It has consciously circulated misinformation for months.

Let me give an example of the misinformation. That children under four years of age will be taught about masturbation and a report by the World Health Organization, WHO, was cited but it has no link or reference to the ongoing curriculum review. Some leaflets make spurious claims suggesting that reform of relationship and sexuality education will lead to incidents of statutory rape. On what planet do these people live?

Without doubt, the misinformation is intentional. It is seen as some sort of bastion of defence against liberalism. However, they are content not to consider the consequences of not reforming relationship and sexuality education. They are happy for children to grow up without a formalised curriculum, without getting information about consent, and without a curriculum that helps them to stay safe.They want to exclude lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender young people from getting education about sexuality and relationships. They are content for generations of Irish society to grow up with shamed and distorted views about sex. According to a newspaper in Donegal, parents were left outraged in the wake of the distribution of what has been described as "propaganda" in local schools. A Sinn Féin activist in Donegal has pointed out that, "There is a fierce irony in attempting to counteract the perceived inclusion of political propaganda in schools by distributing what is undoubtedly political propaganda in schools." Being gay in school is still not easy. A campaign group that goes by the name of "Hands Off Our Kids" is a disgrace because it harks back to an agenda that frames gay men as predatory. There are Members who will remember that when homosexuality was decriminalised, there were attempts to provide for an age of consent that was much higher than the general age of consent.