The Minister for Education, Norma Foley, was pressed at a recent meeting of the Education Committee on whether the State’s RSE programme would be imposed on all schools regardless of ethos and regardless of the wishes of parents.

Indicating she is supportive of mandatory Relationships and Sexuality Education, Fine Gael’s Jennifer Carroll MacNeil  put it to her: “Just to be clear, Minister, based on the answer you gave to Deputy [Brid] Smith, every child in Ireland will get the same technical sexual education as each other, with no opt-out for parents or schools?”

The RSE curriculum is currently being updated by the State’s advisory body on the curriculum, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment.

Ms Foley said “what is laid down in the curriculum will be followed”.

When Ms Carroll MacNeill asked if this meant schools would still be able to opt-out of the new curriculum, Ms Foley responded: “You’ve asked the question, and I’m answering it now. What is laid down in the curriculum must be followed within our schools. And there is oversight of that by our inspectorate.”