Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Regarding the model of care, the NGS states that patient support and advocacy organisations will be involved in governance and service development. However, after five years there is still no member of the trans community on the NGS governance committee and no member has been invited to participate in the development of the service. These are some of the tangible improvements that could be made to increase confidence. Across the NGS, the Department of Health, and among senior figures, including chief clinical officers, in the HSE, we need that level of engagement. This is something to which I will return. I accept the Minister's bona fides in terms of wanting to get this service right and wanting to deliver, but we need to see action and engagement to engender confidence in the community. It is a community of which I am not a member but when I speak to advocacy organisations, I hear what they are saying and I think the Minister hears them too.

See this speech in context