Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. He is always generous with his time in the Seanad. I commend Senators Ruane and Norris on putting this motion on the Order Paper. I also commend the Cathaoirleach on facilitating these new slots for debate, which allow for panel or constituency debates on specific issues.

Too many students, and women in particular, experience sexual harassment and sexual violence at third level. I commend the Union of Students in Ireland, USI, on its work, research and campaigns on this issue, and on being, alongside others, the driving force behind cultural change in this country over many decades. Students have been at the forefront and running educational campaigns around consent, which I will come to later in my contribution. They have always lobbied for policy development at their higher education institutions. They have rallied in support of survivors. They have challenged narratives and comments in the media. Long may that continue.

I will come straight to the issue of non-disclosure agreements, NDAs, referred to in the motion. There has been consensus here tonight that using NDAs to keep victims quiet should not be tolerated. I welcome that the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has committed to commissioning research into the prevalence of NDAs in cases of sexual harassment and discrimination. I wonder can the Minister, Deputy Harris, on behalf of the Government, give an update on that research.

In cases of sexual harassment and discrimination, it is apparent that NDAs are being used to protect third level institutions primarily and, by extension, the perpetrators of sexual harassment and discrimination. It follows that the use of NDAs is not in the interests of the victim or victims of sexual harassment and serves only to silence staff and student victims. Of course, if a victim requests confidentiality, that should be facilitated and I understand that Senator Ruane might have legislation that would achieve that. It says an awful lot about how business-like our third level and higher education sector has become that there appears to be widespread use of NDAs, which are commonplace across businesses. That shows how business-like our colleges have been forced to become.

Figures obtained by the BBC show that British universities spent about £87 million on pay-offs associated with NDAs between 2017 and 2019. A former music professor at the University of Liverpool broke her NDA in order to show people that they are not alone. Ms Anahid Kassabian said, "We all think we're isolated and alone, sobbing over past wrongs, when in fact there are many, many of us, and if we could speak to each other it would feel very different." Ms Kassabian felt that she had been bullied out of her job after being diagnosed with cancer. Victims must be able to speak with each other. They must be able to speak with therapists. They must be able to speak with their families. Using NDAs to keep victims quiet should not be tolerated.

I am glad to be following Senator Carrigy because I also want to talk about relationship and sexuality education, RSE. We are not equipping young people with sex education and relationship education that is robust, comprehensive and inclusive. I am not the only one saying this. In December, it will be two years since the National Council for Curriculum Assessment released its report on a review on RSE. Students were unanimous about the importance of RSE. This quote is from the report and it is about students' perspectives of RSE:

There is unanimous agreement among students about the important of RSE. While students frequently cite friends and the internet as sources of information about relationships and sexuality, they were aware of the shortcomings of these sources. They want schools to provide comprehensive, relevant and age appropriate RSE through all stages of education. Students have a sense that this is hindered by RSE's low status and low priority in schools. They expressed frustration that they are not receiving comprehensive RSE and that their needs are not being met. There is a strong perception among students that provision of RSE is uneven both within and between schools which means that students cannot be guaranteed the same quality of experience in RSE as they can expect in other subjects.

Sexual consent, which can also be left out of discussions completely, should be absolutely central to RSE reform and school is where the process should begin. In May, a spokesperson for the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, said in the Irish Examinerthat, "Should legislative changes be needed, the Minister is committed to making appropriate legislative changes as set out in the programme for government". I say to the Minister, Deputy Foley, that legislative change is needed and I ask what will it take for her to realise that legislative change is long overdue. An Irish Second-Level Students' Union, ISSU, survey of 1,500 fifth and sixth year students found that only 35% of second level students received RSE so far during their second level education.

I welcome this motion of Senators Ruane and Norris and offer Sinn Féin's full support.