Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for meeting us yesterday to discuss amendments to the Bill. He is dealing with this in the best possible way that it can be dealt with. I commend those who have put their names and their personal lives on the line and who are sitting in the Visitors Gallery, in order to see Ireland come into the 21st century dragged kicking and screaming, as it were. I commend him and the Tánaiste for bringing the Bill forward. However, like many before me, Senator Paschal Mooney has pointed out that it is unlikely, experience shows this, that we will get many amendments through during this debate. I know the Minister of State is open to accepting them where possible but life being what it is we may not see them go through.

This amendment is probably the most important amendment to the entire Bill. It seeks to open the door for a review and to keep it open for constant reviews. In passing Bills we, as legislators, need to be aware of the overarching principles of transparency, fairness and reasonableness. The gender recognition application process has to work for the people using it. It cannot impose excessive delays. We have heard already of one young man who has waited four years for medical certification. That is unacceptable. There must be consistency in decision making and that will create its own problems. There must be public confidence in the system. In short, transgender persons and their families must have confidence in the system.

As Ireland is one of the last countries to enact gender recognition legislation we must safeguard against complacency. We need to be vigilant in making sure we never breach human rights law again. What Dr. Lydia Foy had to go through to bring us here today is unbelievable. From that point of view the express needs of the transgender person are and must always be centre stage. How the Bill works in reality for the transgender person will have to be the subject of ongoing reviews at the two and five-year periods.

I support the amendment. If the Minister of State accepts no other amendment it will give comfort to those particularly in the area of enforced divorce, an issue on which, not so long ago, we saw bitter disputes in every street and town in every county when the Government tried to introduce divorce legislation. Now we have part of a Bill where if one member of a married couple decides to trans, we are saying, "Sorry, one has got to get divorced if one wants the recognition." I do not wish to delay the House other than to ask the Minister of State to take this amendment on board. At least that would give me some comfort that we will get a second chance to come back here.