Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Go raibh míle maith agat, a Chathaoirligh. I was not here yesterday, but I wish you well as you start out. I also wish the Leader well and offer my congratulations on her good news. I also welcome our Turkish delegation.

On St. Stephen's Day I read on the front page of The Irish Timesthat 95% of parents whose babies are diagnosed with Down's syndrome at the Rotunda Hospital choose to have an abortion. That was according to the master of the hospital, Professor Fergal Malone. He went on to say:

The reality is the vast majority choose to terminate. I do not have a view on whether that is the right thing. We do not advocate for it, that is just the lived experience.

I think it is more than the lived experience because it is the learned experience. We knew before the abortion referendum in 2018 that the figure was somewhere between 50% and 60%. Something has happened in our country. A few days later on New Year's Eve a famous person died. At one time he said the following:

We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution. Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary, each of us is the result of a thought of God.

I could not help but think, as I reflected back on The Irish Times article, how much richer that vision is, how much more noble it is compared with the cold and sterile words coming from the medical profession or some branches of it and how much better would our healthcare system would be if there was more of that vision but welcoming each person in his or her individuality and rooting for him or her right from the get go. Our health service would be much better if there was more of that spirit around.

On another subject, it would be good if we could debate at some point the work of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, NCCA. I want to welcome its report on the consultation on the draft social personal and health education curriculum for schools. This time, it does try to reflect the various opinions expressed by parents, some of whom are concerned about the direction of relationship and sexuality education and who are keen to see respect for the ethos of individual schools, their characteristic spirit and so on. They also carry other views.

I would be concerned that the NCCA seems to place great store on what the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission says because it knows its view that international human rights standards supposedly on the right to freedom of religion or belief, do not entitle parents to withdraw children from sexuality education classes where relevant information is conveyed in an objective and impartial manner. There is the rub, what is objective and impartial? The time is coming when we have to have a debate in this country about whether in fact parents are to be respected as the primary educators. We need to hear from the NCCA on this and we also need to hear from the Minister for Education.