Green Party chairwoman hits out at Tánaiste's 'ignorant' homeschooling remarks

Ms O'Reilly, who was previously chairwoman of Homeschool Education Network and has also acted as chairwoman of a mainstream school, accused the Tánaiste of peddling a “false perception” of homeschooling.

Mr Martin has claimed the Enoch Burke case shows why children should be educated in schools and not in the home.

In an interview with the Irish Examiner in New York, Mr Martin said he does not want to sound “patronising” but he finds it “sad” and “disquieting” that the Burke family has found itself in such a situation.

He said the fiasco surrounding Mr Burke and other members of his family shows the “importance” of socialisation and that people should be educated in schools.

Mr Burke’s mother, Martina, a qualified teacher, has home-schooled all her 10 children.

“I don’t want to comment too much, but I think it does speak to the importance of socialisation, particularly in education, the idea that people should be educated in schools,” Mr Martin said.

“I’m not a great fan of homeschooling. I think children need to socialise,” he said.

Reacting, the Green Party senator said the Burke family are not reflective of the wider homeschooling community and Mr Martin's comments were “coming from a place of ignorance”.

She said: “The key here is for the Tánaiste to educate himself and to show tolerance and kindness towards young people whether they are in school or homeschooled.

“Young people have contacted me, they are very upset that this kind of false perception of them is being peddled by the Tánaiste and I think that’s the bit that upsets me the most.

Life is hard enough when you're a teenager without having politicians go out and say there’s something wrong with the way that you live your life.

“I just don't think that that's a route that politicians should be going down. Now more than any time before we need to show tolerance for different approaches to life,” she said.

Ms O’Reilly said many families engage in a combination of home schooling and mainstream school at different points in their education.

“My own children would have been the same, they’ve been homeschooled, they’ve also been in school, they know it from both sides.

“I just don’t think that it's helpful to show this lack of empathy for other young people, I don’t think it’s a good example to set.”

Ms O’Reilly said families choose to educate their children at home for a variety of reasons and she will be contacting the Tánaiste on the issue.

“Ireland is such that there’s very few people who don't have community links, it’s absolutely not the case that people are not involved in their communities,” she said.