Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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1169. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the status of the review of the Gender Recognition Act 2015; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45895/17]

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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1198. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if her Department is conducting a review of the Gender Recognition Act 2015; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45893/17]

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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1199. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if a legal pathway is being put in place for children under 16 years of age to obtain a gender-recognition certificate. [45894/17]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1169, 1198 and 1199 together.

Section 7 of the Gender Recognition Act 2015 provides for the Minister to undertake a review of the Act.

On Friday, 3 November, I announced that Ms. Moninne Griffith will chair the group set up to carry out the review.Ms. Griffith is Executive Director of BeLonG To, the national organisation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) young people, aged between 14 and 23.

The full membership of the group will be finalised in the coming days but I have already announced the following three members:

- Sara Phillips – Chair of Transgender Equality Network of Ireland (TENI).

- Seamus Byrne – a young person who is a peer educator and member of IndividualiTy, BeLonG To’s youth group for Transgender young people in Dublin.

- Dr. Tanya Ní Mhuirthile, a lecturer at the DCU School of Law and Government with a considerable experience in the area of transgender rights.

The group will also include officials from a number of Government Departments - Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Children and Youth Affairs, Education and Skills, Foreign Affairs and Trade, Health, and, Justice and Equality.

The review of the Act will cover issues such as gender recognition for children younger than 16 years of age; arrangements for 16 and 17 year olds; and the position of non-binary and intersex persons.

It is intended that the review will be completed by end May 2018.