Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome H.E. Marijus Gudynas, the Lithuanian ambassador, and Deputy Devlin. I salute the people of Lithuania on their national day.

I want to raise today an issue that deserves consideration by this House in a calm, reflective way. The issue concerns gender dysphoria, the treatment of prepubertal, peripubertal and postpubertal children, the services that are, or are not, available in Ireland, and what appears to be a dispute between different factions, if I may use that phrase, over how this issue should be dealt with in Ireland. In the context of the forthcoming closure of the Tavistock clinic in the United Kingdom, to which more than 200 Irish children have been referred, it is important that, here in Ireland, we develop policy to deal with this difficult area. It does not have to be a single policy but could be a suite of policies. Children of the age in question need protection and guidance, not merely from their parents but also from psychiatrists, psychologists and educationalists. I have a feeling - I hope I am not going to rub anybody up the wrong way on this - that the LGBTQ+ alliance is approaching this in a way that is somewhat ideological. It is a bit dismissive of people who raise questions as to the wisdom of some of the things that are happening at the moment. On the other hand, there is an equally ideological conservative backlash movement that regards dysphoria as something that is effectively not even to be talked about and swept under the carpet. Between those two poles, the great majority of people recognise that dysphoria is a condition which deserves a sympathetic approach from all services and interest groups in the country.

Most people would wish for an informed debate on the subject. I organised a session in the audiovisual room at which four experts from the National Gender Service attended. I note that there seems to be a rift between that institution and some people in the HSE. All I am saying is that, without getting emotional about the subject, this House is the perfect place to devote four or five hours to a considered discussion of the issues that arise, allowing Members to express their views without fear of recrimination for being phobic, anti-phobic or otherwise, and to facilitate a really mature discussion on the question of how we deal with gender dysphoria and protect young people from ideologies of both extremes.