Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

I wish to address an aspect of the Bill that has caused great controversy in recent months, that being, the deletion of the word "woman" from it. Across the country, people were angered that the Government would consider doing this. It shows that there is an increasing detachment of the Dáil bubble from the ordinary people of Ireland. Most people I spoke to were horrified to think that, after decades of women struggling, campaigning and fighting for equality, the political elites would, with the stroke of a pen, seek to delete references to women from legislation.

It is not an isolated action. The HSE produced documents recently that removed the word "woman" from information on cervical cancer and replaced it with "people with a cervix". This language caused confusion among people who were in a difficult health situation and damaged the clear messaging around CervicalCheck. It was also grossly insulting to many women to be called a "person with a cervix". Women have a right to their identity. Identity is an important issue for many people. I cannot understand how deleting or erasing the identity of millions of women from legislation, the health service or even schools could be dressed up as inclusivity. It is the opposite of inclusivity. It is happening in the education system, too. Recently, I spoke to a teacher who had attended an in-service day with the Department of Education. The Department's representatives told him that he should not use the words "mother" and "father" in school. The website of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, NCCA, offers advice to teachers on how to address pupils. On that website is a link to another where advice is given to teachers not to call classes to attention with the phrase "boys and girls" because it would not be seen as inclusive.

When did excluding identities, such as woman, mother, father and boys and girls, come to be seen as inclusive? The HSE has started to use the word "chest-feeding". When many ordinary citizens see this, they are aghast. They honestly do not believe this is the language used by the political bubble and establishment in this State. People honestly do not believe it. I told them and I showed them and they still could not believe it. This is incredible.

During the summer, there was the famous "Liveline" show. I do not know if the Minister heard it. It was broadcast in June and was concerned with these issues. "Liveline" is one of those shows that allows real people access to the airwaves. We are mostly listening to people in this bubble here or those who are a part of the media spectrum. These were real people on that show who for the first time had an option to articulate their views on this issue. They did so very respectfully. Yet, this caused a significant backlash. Many women contacted me after that broadcast and told me that it was foolish for the Government to underestimate the depth of feeling that exists regarding ordinary women having their identity deleted throughout the State system. The right to be called a woman or to be referred to as female is important to them. They are proud of the fact that they are women and mothers and grandmothers. They feel the language of the Government is choosing to dehumanise them.

It is incredible that these few islands of a different perspective in our vast array of media again elicited a big pushback from the establishment, as if this should not have happened and these voices should not have been heard in our society. This is wrong. Many women now have a great fear in respect of feeling their rights to single-sex spaces in prisons, toilets and changing rooms are under threat. They also feel that the right of women and children to safe spaces is also under threat.

Do not get me wrong. We must protect all our citizens. All citizens of this Republic are equal and to be valued. No one should be discriminated against in any way whatsoever. Everybody should be treated with respect. Currently, however, this country is an outlier even in Western society in our approach to gender dysphoria and the trans community. The HSE is currently still sending children to the Tavistock Centre in England, an organisation about which the damning Cass report was written. A large number of people are also now suing this centre in connection with the damage done to children in this regard. We must ensure we base our policies on science. Ideology cannot be allowed to trump the issue of science in this State.

In a range of areas, undoubtedly, ideology is now trumping science. Here is the thing. There has been no consultation with people at all on these radical changes. There has been no debate. It has been highly undemocratic, and those who seek to engage feel they are being hammered from on high and called all the names under the sun. When Graham Linehan, of "Father Ted" fame, spoke about these issues on RTÉ's "Prime Time" show, Labour Youth was at the gates of RTÉ protesting-----

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