Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I did not see the television programme Senator Hoey referred to, but I ask the Leader for a debate with the Ministers for Health and Education, perhaps at different points, on how they are dealing with the challenge of gender dysphoria among young people and on the welfare of those individuals. Whatever people's views, we need a discussion. The different points of view in respect of this matter must be given a fair hearing. I read at the weekend that The New York Timeshas ended its blackout of coverage on the alarming rise in the number of young girls diagnosed with gender dysphoria. This comes too late for the countless young American females who were exploited by the more than 100 child gender clinics that sprang into existence over 15 years. Their affirmation-only model meant that young girls were prescribed hormones without question, that drug companies got thousands of lifetime patients and that surgeons - including, regrettably, at least one Irish medical graduate - popped up on TikTok and the like indicating that they would be happy to perform mastectomies on girls as young as 14. It is a catalogue of horror.

My focus today is education. I am concerned because the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth is saying that children in primary school need to be taught about transgender issues. This is worrying many parents. It is not about just showing compassion and understanding to young people presenting with gender dysphoria - that is a given - it is about this pushing of gender diversity at children before it even presents in their lives and confusing some of them. When the Minister for Education was asked about the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment recommending books that promote cross-dressing for primary school children and encourage young boys to wear lipstick and girls clothes in other to explore their gender identity, her only answer was that parents are free to take their children out of class if these things come up. That is not an answer. It does not address the fear parents have about stuff being pushed at their kids before it is ever appropriate to have conversations about these complex and sensitive issues.While I acknowledge that the NCCA belatedly has acknowledged parents’ reluctance and has withdrawn its proposal to have gender identity described as being something experienced along a spectrum, we have to discuss what is going on in these various establishments of State, such as the HSE and the NCCA. To quote Professor Donal O'Shea, it seems that it is the activists who are driving everything, not the professionals anymore. I would ask for a debate in due course with the Departments of Education and Health about these issues.