Marie Sherlock (Dublin Central, Labour)
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371. To ask the Minister for Health her plans to introduce publicly available gender affirming surgery here; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18146/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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As the deputy may be aware, a new clinical programme for gender healthcare has been initiated by the HSE, and over the next two years, an updated clinical model of care for gender healthcare services will be developed.

The model of care will be developed in a consultative way, engaging with stakeholders, healthcare professionals working in gender healthcare, those that use and receive support from the service and their families. The work on the model of care will be informed by the best evidence based clinical care for individuals who express gender incongruence or dysphoria. Emerging and evolving international evidence will be reviewed as part of this work.

Developing a Model of Care for Gender Healthcare Services is expected to be a complex process and the HSE and my department will work closely together to support the process, ensure transparency and keep the patient at the centre of the process.

It is important that the HSE is given time to develop a Model of Care that is based on the best clinical evidence and that will deliver the best outcomes for persons with gender incongruence or dysphoria. It is not possible to pre-empt the outcome of this process by determining at this stage what this model of care will look like once developed.