Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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591. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will provide an update on the status of her Department providing the option to include non-binary as a gender option under the Gender Recognition Act 2015; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32033/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Programme for Government - Our Shared Future, contains a number of actions with respect to gender recognition. My Department is engaged in progressing these actions. This work is ongoing across Government Departments and public bodies on evaluating the impact of changes required to ensure recognition of non-binary people. To this end, all Departments and public bodies have been asked to progress positive actions to give effect to:

- promoting the use and acceptance of correct pronouns;

- improving the design of official forms and documentation to permit the use of a third gender option, or no gender at all, where it is possible to do so.

The Deputy will appreciate that some of the work being undertaken may result in proposals to amend the Gender Recognition Act 2015 which will be considered by Government in due course.

I trust that this clarifies the position for the Deputy. 

Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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592. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will provide an update on the work her Department is doing to introduce legislation to enable those under 18 years of age to obtain a gender recognition certificate with parental approval; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32034/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Programme for Government, Our Shared Future, contains a number of commitments with respect to gender recognition.    These follow recommendations contained in the Report of the Review Group for the Gender Recognition Act, which was completed in July 2018. The previous Government signaled its intention to legislate to give effect to this recommendation of the Review Group with respect to a person aged 16 and 17.  Legislation is currently being drafted.