Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

RTÉ has a responsibility to create a space for conversation, debate and dialogue. As the national broadcaster, it has a responsibility to recognise and respect the vulnerabilities and mental health of the people and communities who are the subjects of its debates. Tonight, "Prime Time" will feature a conversation about transgender young people. I want to make it clear that young people accessing legal gender recognition certificates does not mean they undergo surgery. In an advertisement for tonight's show that has been aired on RTÉ, the presenter, Miriam O'Callaghan, asks why there has been so little discussion of these issues in Ireland. There are individuals who are desperately trying to transfer to Ireland the division that has been fostered around these issues in Britain. We are not Britain. Our extremely progressive Gender Recognition Act was passed into law in 2015 after a very long conversation about marriage equality and the lives of LGBT people. Since that time, this House has unanimously supported the principle of the Gender Recognition (Amendment) Bill 2017, which focuses on trans young people. There have been conversations. I hope this House can send a message today that we value the contribution of trans people to the diversity of this island and we reject transphobia in all its forms. The US Supreme Court has today allowed Donald Trump's ban on transgender troops to come into effect. I remind the House that people like Trump and others closer to home have a shopping list and it does not stop with the Traveller community or the trans community.