There is no evidence of a largescale desire by parents for the ethos of schools to change, even as it impacts the teaching of sex education.

In a reply to a parliamentary question from TD, Carol Nolan, the Minister for Education said that his Department had received only 60 communications in ten years, featuring complaints involving a perceived restriction on the teaching of Relationships and Sexuality Education [RSE] as a result of the ethos (or characteristic spirit) of schools.

The Laois-Offaly TD had asked Minister Norma Foley the details of the number of complaints made to her Department from 2011 to date involving the issue of school ethos, including the way in which it had shaped the teaching of RSE.