Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, United Left) | Oireachtas source

I support this group of amendments. Unfortunately, I missed the closing date to submit my own proposals and it was not possible, with only two days to do so, to put forward amendments to the amendments. I support the appeal from transgender people aged 16 to 18 and under 16 for the Government to take this opportunity to make provision for an interim gender certificate. Will the Minister of State indicate whether the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs submitted recommendations or amendments to Cabinet in this regard?

I understand the Minister of State, Deputy Kevin Humphreys, has had a number of meetings with Transgender Equality Network Ireland, TENI, BeLonG To and other groups, where he had a chance to speak to people who will be affected by these provisions. The failure to make provision for those aged under 18 will impact directly on young people's lives. They should have had a much stronger say in terms of their communication with the Department. By failing to make provision in the legislation for that age group, we are saying to a generation of young people that they must wait two years before anything will be done for them. In Norway, a recent proposal seeks to extend gender recognition provisions to apply to children as young as seven years of age. In other countries, a lot of research is being done and debate is taking place on how legislation can be changed to accommodate the needs of young people.

The Minister of State knows my position on this issue. There is no reason the legislation cannot be reviewed much sooner than in two years time. We might consider it in six months, say, and, if necessary, introduce amendments to make provision for 16 to 18 year olds and under 16s. Is the Minister of State open to an earlier review, before the five-year term of this Dáil is over? This is good and progressive legislation, which moves us a great deal further along from where we were some months ago. It comes in the wake of the progressive "Yes" vote in the marriage equality referendum. The Ombudsman for Children has called for the Bill to be amended to make provision for under 16s, as has TENI, the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and the Children's Rights Alliance. Those organisations are arguing for the change as something that will have a significant impact on people's lives. The feedback we are getting shows that young people know who they are in terms of gender recognition from a fairly young age. They have to deal with that every day of the week in school, at sports activities and everywhere they go. It will be a terrible shame if we do not use this opportunity to put a more definite process in place for reviewing the need to make provision for 16 to 18 year olds and under 16s. Will the Minister of State agree to review the matter in six months time?

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