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Micheál Martin was speaking after the broadcast of an RTÉ documentary on Irish referrals to the Tavistock clinic and related matters.
His call for considered analysis of the way forward also comes as the British Government issues new advice to schools over transgender students which will also apply in Northern Ireland.
Mr Martin said he had not seen the RTÉ documentary, but had read about it. The Labour Party has criticised the handling of the issues involved.
“We must all bring a degree of understanding to this issue and avoid declaratory or simplistic conclusions,” Mr Martin said.
He added that he respected all of the clinicians involved, some of whom differed on the programme. The Tavistock clinic has closed after a series of controversies.
“There needs to be an informed, balanced debate on the issue,” the Tánaiste said, without offering particular direction.
The Irish Government’s approach to transgender issues contrasts with British Government decisions which have seen by as hostile by the transgender community.
New guidance from the UK Department for Education is to call for a “presumption against” allowing children to declare at school that they are changing gender – a crux that lies at the heart of the continuing incarceration of teacher Enoch Burke in Mountjoy prison.
A claimed “parents first” approach in Britain is seen as a response by Rishi Sunak and his Cabinet to concerns among Conservative Party voters about “gender ideology.”
The schools advice will call for parents to be told at the first opportunity if children asks to change their pronouns at school.
It will make clear that there needs to be exceptional circumstances for the child’s parents or guardians not to informed before in-school protocols are put in place.
In Ireland there are no overall guidelines on these subjects from the Department of Education, despite calls for a framework to be developed by TENI, the Transgender Equality Network Ireland.
It says it has been working with both primary and post-primary schools in Ireland since 2013. “During this period, we have experienced hundreds of individual and often complex situations relating to gender transition in the school environment. Our work focuses on providing a holistic wrap-around model of care, which encompasses a partnership element with key stakeholders in the care for young transgender and gender diverse TGD) people, including their families,” the organisation said.
The British advice, which has yet to be officially published, reportedly says that teachers and pupils should not be pressured to adopt a child’s chosen pronouns – and should not be punished if they get them wrong.
However, some schools are already saying they will shun the guidelines, which are only advisory rather than having legal force.
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