Written answers
Thursday, 29 June 2023
Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection
Gender Recognition
Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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313. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her plans to provide legal recognition for non-binary people; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31747/23]
Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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319. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she is aware that the 2018 review of the Gender Recognition Act 2015 made several recommendations around the development of non-binary legal recognition; if she is further aware that in her report on the review, dated 26 November 2019, then-Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection (details supplied) stated that her Department had carried out an initial scoping exercise on the implications of non-binary recognition, that an interdepartmental group had been established to progress this issue, and that the group was due to complete its work by the end of 2020; if she will provide an update on the work of her Department towards non-binary legal recognition, or on the work of this interdepartmental group; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31753/23]
Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 313 and 319 together.
The Review Group for the Gender Recognition Act recommended in its report extending legal gender recognition to non-binary people, while also recognising the complexity of the issue and acknowledging that a comprehensive impact analysis may be required. An interdepartmental group was established to carry out this impact assessment and submit a report to Government for consideration.
While preliminary work was commenced in relation to the inter-departmental group the devotion of resources within the public service to the public health crisis at the time and associated matters meant that it was not possible to further progress the work at that time.
The task to complete the work of the interdepartmental group forms part of the Programme for Government.
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