Jillian van Turnhout (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have great pleasure in seconding the amendment Senator Zappone has put forward and I agree with everything she has said. The difficulty I had when I read amendment No. 7 proposed by the Government was with regard to what is the basis for the review. Will the review be to the effect that it has granted X number of certificates and this is how it happened? The difficulty is that this is what is in legislation and some of us will not be here in two years time to oversee that review. The language does not tell me the basis for the review whereas the amendment proposed by Senator Zappone clearly refers to consistency with international best practice and human rights standards.

Senator Zappone mentioned the article by Professor Michael O'Flaherty. He was succinct when he stated:

The fundamental test of the quality of this Bill should be ... how well it honours the right of every one to be recognised as their gender of choice. We all have the entitlement to live as who we are, to be welcomed in society as the person we choose to be. That principle is enshrined in international human rights law.

He certainly speaks very much as a leading expert, given that he was the group rapporteur of the 2006 Yogyakarta Principles.

The difficulty I have with the Government amendment, and I welcome that the Minister of State has put down the amendment, is with regard to what is the basis of and the standards for the review. Amendment No. 1 clearly sets that out.I was hoping for that type of amendment, although perhaps with slightly different language - one whereby we would know what the review would be on, rather than a commitment that a review would take place in two years time and then a report would be sent to the Houses and it would be all done. This does not give me the assurance we had on Committee Stage, when the Minister of State assured the House he would come back with an amendment. I am pleased that Senator Zappone has resubmitted this amendment.