Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I received a communication from Ms Stella O'Malley of Genspect, an organisation that advocates for an evidence-based approach to gender distress. The organisation is concerned about the recent announcement from the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, that he will bring to Cabinet in June conversion therapy legislation which includes gender identity and not only sexual orientation in its purview. Its particular concern is this will put clinicians working with patients with gender identity issues in an impossible situation whereby if they follow their training and professional standards to complete clinically appropriate assessments, explore factors which may contribute to a patient's gender dysphoria and proceed with caution before advocating for gender affirmation medication or surgery, they might be at risk of accusations of conversion therapy and possible criminal prosecution. This is not to mind those clinicians who accept and affirm a person with gender dysphoria's declared gender identity and do not explore any contraindications for fear of prosecution and might be at risk of legal action from patients who subsequently regret medical gender transition.

The remarkable thing is the Minister commissioned publicly funded research from the Trinity College Dublin, TCD, school of nursing and midwifery. Genspect has exposed many flaws in that research. It does not clearly define what would be included if gender identity is to be included in this legislation on conversion therapy; the evidence on which it relied constituted 23 responses to an anonymous online survey and two interviews; there was no evidence of complaints from any professional or clinical bodies; there is a failure to acknowledge disagreement among medical professionals in the area; and the research was not independent, with activists from various organisations appointed to assist and advise the TCD researchers. Genspect has listed other problems with the research as well.

Should poorly researched and tendentious research like this carry a university label? Would the authorities in TCD really be happy that it should? What is the Minister doing using taxpayers' money to pay for research like this and to pay activists to assist it? What is any Minister with responsibility for children doing proposing legislation that would expose reputable clinicians to prosecution if they try to apply an objective therapeutic standard to working with children with gender distress? The least we could do is ask the Minister to come into this House and explain himself.