Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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309. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will support the legislative changes that were recommended by the Oireachtas Committee on Education which included amending the Education Act to ensure that religious ethos cannot influence children’s right to objective sex education and amending the Employment Equality Act to protect teachers from being disciplined for not upholding the religious ethos of schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25216/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Access to sexual and health education is an important right for students. Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) is a mandatory curriculum subject in all primary schools and in post-primary Junior Cycle. Relationships and Sexuality Education (or RSE) is required at all levels, from primary through to Senior Cycle. My Department has set out the content for each of these programmes in SPHE syllabuses and guidelines.

All schools are required to have an RSE policy that is developed in consultation with the school community, including school management, parents, teachers and students as appropriate. The school’s programme for Relationship and Sexuality Education is developed and taught in the context of the school’s RSE policy. Schools are required to teach all aspects of the RSE programme, including family planning, sexually transmitted infections and sexual orientation. It is important to note that the ethos of the school should never preclude learners from acquiring the knowledge about the issues, but ethos may influence how that content is treated.

My Department continues to work closely with the NCCA to determine the approach to best give effect to the commitment in the Programme for Government to develop an inclusive and age-appropriate RSE and SPHE curricula across primary and post-primary levels, including an inclusive programme on LGBTI+ relationships. In this regard, the NCCA have recently published learning resources linked to the Primary SPHE Curriculum on their online toolkit which supports teaching and learning linked to the current curriculum; and work on developing a new Junior Cycle curriculum begins in September. Should any legislative changes be required I am committed to making such changes, as set out in the Programme for Government.

The key purpose of the Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2015 was to amend section 37(1) of the Employment Equality Act 1998 to better protect employees against discrimination in an appropriate and balanced way, while respecting religious freedoms guaranteed in the Constitution.

The amended section 37 now oblige relevant employers in religious-run schools and hospitals to show that any favourable treatment of an employee or prospective employee is limited to the religion ground and action taken against a person is objectively justified by reference to that institution’s aim of protecting its religious ethos and that the means of achieving that aim are appropriate and necessary. The new provision provides that action taken against an employee or prospective employee on the religion ground shall not be regarded as justified unless it is:

- rationally and strictly related to the institution’s religious ethos;

- a response to conduct of a person which undermines or would undermine the religious ethos of the institution, rather than being a response to that person’s status under any of the other discrimination grounds (e.g. sexual orientation) set out in equality legislation; and

- proportionate to the conduct of the employee or prospective employee, having regard to alternative action the employer could take, the consequences of any action taken for the employee or prospective employee and the actual damage caused to the religious ethos of the institution.

This raises the threshold for discrimination so that religious run schools and hospitals must now show real damage to their ethos, are precluded from discrimination on any of the other equality grounds and that any action taken is reasonable and proportionate.

Any proposed amendments to the Employment Equality Act would be a matter for the Department of Justice.