Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 16 Oct 2002

Vol. 555 No. 3

Adjournment Debate. - Sex Education.

Ms F. O'Malley

I welcome very much the opportunity to raise on the Adjournment the findings of the report into the experience of teenage pregnancy in the south east, which was carried out on behalf of the South-Eastern Health Board. The report informs us that young people are sexually active. That is hardly a surprise but in many cases they are ill-equipped with information about contraception and the dangers of unprotected sex. Worryingly, a number of teenagers interviewed for the report failed to make the connection between having sex and pregnancy. That is quite astonishing.

According to Angela O'Shea, the Women's Health Development Officer with the South-Eastern Health Board, as sexual maturity begins at an earlier age, every teenage girl between the ages of 15 and 19 now has a one in ten chance of having a baby. The latest figures for the number of women accessing abortion services in Britain indicates a worrying increase in the number of under 20s travelling. The first quarter figures for 2002 from the British National Statistics Office shows an increase of 47 in the number of Irish women and girls under the age of 20 accessing abortion services compared with the same period last year.

Pregnancy is not the only consequence of unprotected and casual sex. The incidence of sexually transmitted infections in Ireland is growing at an alarming rate, with huge increases in the number of girls and women presenting with chlamydia. The South-Eastern Health Board report calls for comprehensive policy responses to assist young people in making more informed choices about sex. In delivering such responses we must bear in mind that many young people are sexually active and have particular sexual health needs. It would be wrong to warn them simply against engaging in sexual activity because of the consequences of crisis pregnancy and sexually trans mitted diseases. The lecture approach does not work. Instead we should provide information and sexual health care services to young people that enable them to make informed choices about sexual behaviour.

Education plays a critical role and while relationships and sexuality education in the curriculum aims to make young people more aware, the reality is that it is not being taught in all schools. Furthermore, the formal surroundings of a school are not always conducive to young people discussing issues around sex and reproductive health in a frank manner.

The report also points to a need for peer education and sex education programmes delivered in a more holistic, interactive and comprehensive manner. Such education programmes should not only deal with all aspects of contraception, sexual health and sexually transmitted diseases, they should cover issues of self esteem. It is the experience of family planning service providers that young people, particularly young girls, seeking emergency contraception often explained that they were more or less forced to have sex because they felt that the relationship was at risk of breaking down otherwise. Sex education should impart the message that sexual relations must be approached in a responsible and informed way, and never as something into which a person should be pressurised.

For those who make an informed choice about sex, access to non-judgmental information on contraception, sexual problems and crisis pregnancy is essential. There is a huge information gap about where people can access reliable information and many young people are receiving unreliable information from equally uneducated peers.

When young people become sexually active, there is huge reluctance to seek parental advice and guidance. Often approaching the family doctor is not an option, particularly for those on low incomes or those who cannot meet consultation fees or the cost of contraception. There is a need for sexual health services particularly targeted at young people where contraception, counselling, STD testing and other services are offered at a subsidised rate or for free. Universities and colleges sometimes offer this service but that is for those with the good fortune to be in third level education, from which many are excluded.

High profile advertising targeted at young people could play a role in raising the awareness of sexual transmitted infections and crisis pregnancy. Such advertising should not just warn of the dangers but also promote condom usage and safe sex generally.

The health board report also deals with the evaluation report on pilot teen parent support projects. I welcome the commitment contained in it to supporting teen parents but we, as policy makers, must play a role in delivering comprehensive sexual and reproductive services.

Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children (Mr. Callely)

I would like to thank Deputy Fiona O'Malley for raising this important issue. The Minister and I share the Deputy's concern about the need for relevant and comprehensive sex education programmes and reproductive health services for teenagers.

In relation to sex education programmes, the health promotion unit of the Department of Health and Children has been working both independently and in partnership with the Department of Education and Science over the past number of years to achieve an improvement in sexual health of the entire population and of young people specifically. The national health promotion strategy for the years 2000-05 set down the strategic aim of promoting sexual health and safer sexual practices amongst the population. The specific objectives are to support school based programmes designed to develop personal skills such as relationships and sexuality education and social, personal and health education; to work in partnership to develop and implement health promotion initiatives which address teenage pregnancies; to contribute to a reduction in the number of crisis pregnancies; to work in partnership to develop and implement strategies aimed at reducing the incidence of STIs; to initiate research into the need for a national sexual health strategy that would encompass the prevention of STIs and crisis pregnancies and to support the implementation of the recommendations from the national AIDS strategy committee.

I am pleased to inform the House that the Department has well developed structures and policies in place to achieve these objectives. By September 2003 it is the intention that all primary and post-primary schools will have a timetabled programme of social, personal and health education. The SPHE programme forms part of the core curriculum at junior cycle and provides an integrated and substantial use of education, relationship and sexuality education alongside emotional and physical health issues and the development of communication skills. This holistic life skills approach thereby provides students with the opportunity to develop skills and competence to learn about themselves, to care for themselves and others and to make informed decisions about their health, personal lives and social development. To date 76% of our postrimary schools have engaged with the SPHE support service to support their implementation and delivery of the programme. Over 80% of primary schools report having SPHE on the timetable.

In addition to the implementation of the national programme, many of the regional health boards are developing and implementing sexual health strategies and initiatives for young people. In particular the Southern, North-Western, Midlands and Mid-Western Health Boards are at an advanced stage of strategy development and implementation. The health promotion unit of the Department is working closely on an ongoing basis with these boards to support and advise on strategy.

In addition to school based interventions, the health promotion unit of the Department has almost doubled its investment in convenience advertising in pubs, clubs, colleges and youth venues across the country. This means of delivering sexual health messages has been very positively evaluated world-wide and here in Ireland.

Through the education and prevention sub-committee of the national AIDS strategy committee, the Department has engaged extensively with both the gay community and HIV positive groups in relation to the promotion of healthy sexual behaviours. Awareness raising initiatives and programmes are continually being developed and funded by the Department relating to the specific needs of these groups.

The establishment of the Crisis Pregnancy Agency has given new impetus to, and will play a major role in, the development of co-ordinated, responsive and appropriate services for crisis pregnancy, including teenage pregnancy. The agency has the task, in consultation with other non-statutory agencies, of drawing up a national strategy to address crisis pregnancies, especially those of teenagers, and overseeing its implementation. It will draw on the experience of existing bodies while fulfilling its remit to bring a new systemic and sustained approach to preventing crisis pregnancies and to providing assistance during and after they occur. It will also address shortfalls in counselling services, practical support and education.

The prevention of crisis pregnancy is the primary task of the agency and preventative issues concerning the education of young adults as well as services appropriate to their needs and lifestyles will be addressed. The agency will work to develop strategies to make women more aware of their options should they have a crisis pregnancy and to improve the supports and assistance available to them to help them feel they have genuine alternatives to abortion. Women who have had abortions also have particular needs which is another area the agency has been asked to address to ensure that women are treated with compassion and understanding and their emotional and physical health needs are attended to.

To help develop a strategy to address crisis pregnancy, the agency invited submissions from organisations and the public earlier this year. I encourage anyone listening to this debate with a view or a creative suggestion to make a submission either to the agency or directly to me. I am pleased to indicate that approximately 250 submissions have been received to date and are currently being examined, coded and analysed. Further consultation will take place with the appropriate agencies. It is expected that this wide-ranging consultation process will run into 2003 and it is hoped to institute an action plan for the coming years. This will provide the agency with a framework to implement its strategy in a planned and structured manner.

The main public information scheme being developed by the agency in 2002 is the development of an information on supports in crisis pregnancy programme which the agency expects to begin to roll-out from November 2002. The development of a research programme has also commenced and the agency has stated that the main priorities in this area include the development of an initial framework, an audit of existing research and an analysis of research gaps. In 2002, key research on crisis pregnancy counselling commenced, as did the development of a communications framework and an audit of the services provided nationally. I am satisfied that the current programmes are in place and I will consider any innovative proposal. The strategies being developed by the Crisis Pregnancy Agency will bring about a reduction in teenage pregnancies.

An Ceann Comhairle

In fairness to all Members of the House, I ask Ministers to request their Departments to refrain from sending scripts that take well beyond five minutes to read out.

The Dáil adjourned at 9.35 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 17 October 2002.