Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

The registration of a birth is designed to record personal details as they pertain at the time of birth. The issue of the amendment of the birth certificate following gender reassignment arose in an application for a judicial review of a decision of an tArd-Cláraitheoir at the time, not to amend an entry in the register of births following an application from a person who had undergone gender reassignment surgery. The High Court declined to grant the application. The judgment noted that the applicant raised many personal complex social, ethical and legal issues. I understand that the High Court decision has now been appealed to the Supreme Court, and pending the outcome of the appeal and the enactment of the provisions of this Bill, I am not currently in a position to accept the amendment. We must await the decision of the Supreme Court.