General Scheme of Gender Recognition Bill 2013: Discussion
Chairman:   I draw witnesses' attention to the fact that, by virtue of section 17(2)(l) of the Defamation Act 2009, witnesses are protected by absolute privilege in respect of their evidence to this committee. However, if they are directed by the committee to cease giving evidence on a particular matter and they continue to so do, they are entitled thereafter only to qualified privilege in respect of their evidence. Witnesses are directed that only evidence connected with the subject matter of these proceedings is to be given. They are asked to respect the parliamentary practice to the effect that, where possible, they should not criticise or make charges against any person or persons or entity by name or in such a way as to make him, her or it identifiable. I advise witnesses that the opening statements they have submitted to the committee will be published on the committee website following this meeting. Members are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that they should not comment on, criticise or make charges against a person outside the Houses or any official by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable.
The matter we are discussing today is the general scheme of the Gender Recognition Bill 2013. The general scheme was published last July by the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton, following Cabinet approval. It was referred to the committee for its consideration. In order to assist the committee in considering the proposed legislation, members sought the views of interested individuals and organisations. Ten written submissions were received. To enable the committee to develop its understanding of the key issues identified in the process, it decided to hear evidence from key individuals and groups on the matter. We could not invite everybody, but invited organisations and individuals with long-standing expertise in the area. In the first of the hearings, which is today, we will hear from the Department of Social Protection, Transgender Equality Network Ireland, TransParenCI, BeLong To, LGBT Noise and Professor Donal O'Shea.
Tomorrow we will have a similar arrangement. We will have six witnesses and the meeting will start at 10 a.m. We will not be able to do all our business today and will have to continue it tomorrow. We must be fair to the witnesses who appear tomorrow. I aim to finish the meeting at 3.30 p.m. because the room is booked only until then. I ask everyone to keep to the time limits. At 2 p.m. Senators may have to leave because the Taoiseach is addressing the Seanad today. Over the two hearings, however, we will hear from the Senators. I invite Ms Simonetta Ryan to contribute on behalf of the Department of Social Protection.
Ms Simonetta Ryan: I thank the committee for the opportunity to attend to brief members on the general scheme of the Gender Recognition Bill 2013. This is a very important Bill to provide for the solemn recognition by the State of a person's acquired gender for all purposes. As members will note from my presentation, the provisions in the Bill contain some very significant advances on previous proposals, particularly in regard to the validation process. In summary, the provisions in the Bill seek to be respectful to all concerned, to be prudent, to be practical and to preserve the integrity of State records. This presentation will set out the background to the preparation of the legislation, outline the purpose of the Bill and summarise its provisions.
With regard to the background, the lack of legal recognition for transgender persons is a significant and long-standing issue. The High Court declared in 2008 that the State was in breach of its obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights because it did not have a process to legally recognise the acquired gender of transgender persons. The interdepartmental gender recognition advisory group, GRAG, was established in 2010 to advise on the legislation required to give legal recognition to the acquired gender of transgender persons. There is a commitment in the programme for Government that transgender people will be provided with legal recognition. In July 2011, the report of GRAG was published and the Government decided legislation would be drafted in line with its recommendations. Since then, and building on this report, the Department of Social Protection engaged in a significant amount of consultation and research during the preparation of the legislation. We have sought and considered the views of a range of organisations and individuals with experience and expertise in this area. These include transgender persons and their representative organisations.
While the Bill is in keeping with the general structure of the GRAG recommendations, it differs in a number of key aspects, which I will explain.
Following Government approval, the general scheme of the Bill was published in 17 July 2013. This legislation will give legal recognition to the acquired gender of transgender persons. Formal legal recognition, through the issuing of a gender recognition certificate by the Department of Social Protection, will mean that the person's acquired gender will be fully recognised by the State for all purposes, including the right to marry or to enter a civil partnership in the acquired gender and the right to a new birth certificate. The legislation will allow for applications from people with intersex conditions should they wish to apply.
I will outline the main effects of the legislation for those wishing to have their gender recognised. The Bill will provide for persons aged 18 and over and who are not married or in a civil partnership. The person will be officially legally recognised by the State as being of the acquired gender from the date of the decision to issue the gender-recognition certificate. The recognition will be for all purposes, including dealings with the State, public bodies and civil and commercial society. The person whose acquired gender is recognised will be entitled to marry a person of the opposite gender or enter a civil partnership with a person of the same gender. The decision will entitle persons whose births are registered in Ireland to a new birth certificate that shows the acquired gender and new names, if names are also changed. Similarly, for those whose births are registered in the foreign birth register maintained by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the decision will entitle them to a new foreign birth registration certificate that shows the new gender and new names, if names are also changed. All rights, responsibilities and consequences of actions by the person in their original gender prior to the date of recognition will remain unaffected.
I will now summarise the main provisions of the Bill. Heads 1 to 3 are standard provisions dealing with the Short Title of the Act, commencement orders, definitions of terms used in the Act and the power of the Minister to make regulations and to give effect to the Act. Head 4 provides that the Minister for Social Protection shall be the decision-making authority in regard to granting approval for gender recognition certificates. The Minister shall issue the certificate once the application meets all the qualification requirements.
Head 5 sets out the conditions that a person is required to meet in order to qualify for a gender recognition certificate. The person must meet one of three criteria: the birth must be registered in Ireland; one must have become an Irish citizen by having one's birth registered in the foreign births register maintained by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade; and one must be ordinarily resident in the State. One must also be at least 18 years of age on the date of the application and must not be in an existing marriage or civil partnership. In addition, one must meet the evidential requirements set out in head 6.
In respect of the age limit, the Government, following consideration, decided that a minimum age of 18 should apply. This is based on the recommendations made in the GRAG report. The requirement that applicants for gender recognition must not be in an existing marriage or civil partnership was also considered by the Government.
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