Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)

We can measure the success of any society's progress on welfare, well-being and inclusion by looking at how it treats its most marginalised groups. We are failing our most vulnerable miserably here in Ireland. Last night, we heard no shortage of horror stories about women suffering as a result of poor treatment for endometriosis in this State, with an average wait of nine years for a diagnosis. At the moment, transgender people are waiting ten years for a first appointment with the National Gender Service, the only clinic that serves gender non-conforming people in the entire State. This poses the question as to whose lives we value in this State and whose health matters. There is no doubt gender has a lot to do with the answer. I cannot put into words how much I am upset by how badly we are failing our trans boys and girls and trans men and women. All they want is to be allowed to be themselves and to be recognised and loved for that. As the mother of four kids, I find this heartbreaking. I hope to be the kind of mother who listens without judgment, hugs without hesitation and stands by them without fear. I empathise with and commend all the proud mammies and daddies of trans kids who are fighting so hard for their kids to have decent lives. We would all do well to put ourselves in the shoes of those mammies and daddies. Perhaps then we would have a system that looks a whole lot different than the one we have today.

In 2022, Transgender Europe found that Ireland had the worst transgender healthcare in all of Europe. There is solid evidence showing that reliable and open access to gender-affirming care is essential to improving outcomes for trans people. We are inflicting immeasurable and necessary trauma by denying trans people basic healthcare and security. We are forcing trans people to seek surgeries abroad and self-medicate, thereby putting their lives in danger. We need to take a step back, look at the National Gender Service and ask if it is fit for purpose if many trans people are coming out of there feeling worse off than when they went in. We need to listen to the trans community and have their voices at the centre of these conversations. At the moment, far-right ideology based on misinformation is steering this conversation on a serious human rights issue. The political establishment is without a peep on this matter. One would wonder why. Shame on all of us. We need to do better.

Tá stair na hÉireann lán le scéalta de ghrúpaí imeallaithe ar cuireadh ina dtost. Ná bíodh an deireadh céanna i ndán do phobal eile. Ireland's history is full of stories of a people silenced. Let us not repeat that history with another community.

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