Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left) | Oireachtas source

I warmly welcome the fact that the legislation is giving legal recognition to transgender and inter-sex people for the very first time. The House is discussing the issue and putting the spotlight on an important part of Irish life that never gets the recognition it deserves, that generally remains hidden and not spoken about. However, while recognising this fact it would be great if we could wholeheartedly and enthusiastically welcome this Bill, without having to put a "but" in that sentence, if, just for once, the Government could introduce legislation that the Opposition did not have to say that it was not best practice and that the proposition was lagging behind what is best practice. We are adopting a measure that has passed its sell-by date in other jurisdictions. The Government can say it is not the case that the glass is half-empty, that now we have a glass that is half-full. However, we want the whole glass. Why should Irish citizens always have to settle for less? It is not good enough. I appeal to the Government to look at the changes being proposed and recommended by TENI. We can have a review in a year's time or in two years' time but I ask why we do not listen to the voices now. We are doing it the wrong way around.

Other Members have highlighted a number of issues. The first issue is the confusion of the health issue with the legal issue. It is like what happened in the surrogacy debate and the Children and Family Relationships Bill. Medical procedures exist, they are regulated separately and they are utterly irrelevant for the purposes of this Bill. This question before us is one of legal identity and there is no place whatsoever for the issue of a medical evaluation.

I refer to the requirement that a person would submit a statutory declaration with a certificate from a medical practitioner, defined as a psychiatrist or an endocrinologist, to say that the medical practitioner is satisfied that the person fully understands what he is she is saying. I refer to the point made by Deputy Joan Collins that there are only four people in the country who meet that criteria. We have met people who have said that their children are waiting for four years in some instances. Apart from the question of impracticality, it is insulting and patronising to suggest that people themselves do not know what they want. This approach has been bypassed in other jurisdictions and replaced by the human rights approach. Other speakers referred to Argentina and Malta, which is the only country, other than Ireland, with a restrictive position on abortion. However, even Malta is ahead of us on this issue. The Yogyakarta principles state that countries should respect and legally recognise each person's self-defined gender identity. None of us need someone else to tell us who we are because we know our own identity. It is a question of a person having the right to exercise his or her self-determination. I hope this point is taken on board but if not, at least I ask the Minister of State, for God's sake, to extend the definition of a medical practitioner to include general practitioner. This would mean that a person would not have to attend a specialist in Dublin and be on a waiting list for years.

Members have made the points about civil partnership. It is a breach of the European Convention on Human Rights to force a person to divorce. The main issue I wish to deal with is the question of young people. Where is our responsibility to protect and defend the rights of all children equally? It is not there. This Bill means that transgender people will exist in Ireland - which I commend - but only if they are over the age of 16. Under the age of 16 those children will be invisible. I am the parent of a teenager and I know how shockingly hard it is for young people in today's society, but how much more difficult it must be for a transgender young person. It does not bear thinking about. The briefing meeting yesterday heard moving testimony from a parent. He made a very good comparison which was that years ago, people in wheelchairs were held in institutions and nobody saw them but society moved on and statutory requirements and wheelchair accessibility became a normal part of society.

The transgender community is, in some ways, kept silent and out of the public domain. We have an opportunity to address that issue by adopting best practice. The Government is stating the Bill deals with inter-sex persons but nothing in it addresses that issue. This is another shortfall that needs to be addressed.

The parent to whom I referred spoke yesterday about how difficult things were for his family but how wonderful his son was. In fact, his son has had to be a parent to his parents such is the lack of support. This father said:

What is in front of us now is for Irish transgender people, in particular Irish transgender children, to inform this legislation. Their voices and their best interests must speak to this legislation. It must free them to live meaningful lives to their full potential and not restrict them or ignore them, as this version well.

I hope the Government hears his voice.

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