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

Everyone has made the points as to why this amendment should be accepted by the Government. I cannot see why the Minister of State will not accept it. It would give a bit of a boost to those in the transgender community. It would give them a positive feeling that we are serious about moving the situation on, even though the Minister of State is not accepting any changes with regard to the age.

The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, in a letter to the Minister for Social Protection, suggested two amendments to the Bill, one of which was the addition of a new subsection, section 7(c), providing that the Minister "incorporate into the review consideration of the needs of persons under 16 years who are not eligible for an exemption to apply for a gender recognition certificate under Section 12 of the Bill". Obviously, there are concerns, particularly about those under 16 years, but I would like to see a review of all the different areas generally.

See this speech in context