Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Yes. I have one eye on Deputy Ó Snodaigh speaking in the House as I am speaking there shortly but I can assure the Minister that my attention is directed to this room. I will be brief so that the Minister will have time to respond.

I congratulate Deputy O'Gorman. He will be excellent in this brief.

It is an important committee. I have three young children. Two of them have birthdays today. I was a schoolteacher for 16 years. We must invest a great deal in our youth. I will get straight into it.

Under the Minister's equality brief, I reference a case that has been covered in all the national media, and I would say quite unfairly in some of it, during the week. It is the case of Barbie Kardashian. I will not reference one media outlet because it has gone under the belt in its rapportage. RTÉ identified something that I hope the Minister can look at in his tenure. There was a really positive piece of legislation passed by the Government that preceded the previous one. The Gender Recognition Act 2015 was a really positive piece of affirming legislation for young people where on reaching the age of 18 one could self-identity one's gender. It was liberating for many young people who in their teenage years grappled with what they believed was their true gender.

However, legislation never deals with every eventuality and certain concerns were flagged at the time. The legislation is now five years old. We have had a case in the past week where somebody has entered a female prison who is not biologically female or has not undergone gender reassignment or any form of surgery.