Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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179. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if, under the proposed Gender Recognition Bill 2014, a person can have his or her birth certificate amended to reflect his or her preferred gender identity. [5675/15]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Gender Recognition Bill 2014 provides that, where a gender recognition certificate is issued to a person, the person’s gender shall, from that date, become for all purposes the preferred gender so that if the preferred gender is the male gender the person’s sex becomes that of a man and, if it is the female gender the person’s sex becomes that of a woman.

A person who is issued with a gender recognition certificate and is registered on the register of births or adopted children register may apply to the Registrar General to have their required particulars entered on the gender recognition register which is being established under this legislation. They may then be provided with a birth certificate drawn from that register which will show the preferred gender and new names (if names are also changed).

The legislation also provides for similar arrangements for persons registered on the register of intercountry adoptions maintained by the Adoption Authority of Ireland and on the foreign births register maintained by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

The Gender Recognition Bill 2014 was introduced as a Seanad Bill on 21 January 2015 and is currently progressing through that House.