Two former Attorney Generals will host a briefing for TDs and Senators with clinicians who work with the National Gender Service (NGS).
Former Ministers Michael McDowell, now an Independent Senator, and Charlie Flanagan, a Fine Gael TD, last week invited all Oireachtas members to attend a doctors’ briefing this Wednesday in the audiovisual room at Leinster House.
The current state of care for patients seeking treatment for gender dysphoria – the feeling of a mismatch between sex and sex – is in crisis in Ireland, with adults waiting three years to access NGS services, while children need to visit the Tavistock Clinic in England.
NGS doctors have urged HSE and Health Secretary Stephen Donnelly to suspend use of the Tavistock Clinic over its allegedly unsafe practices.
The expansion of NGS services for adults and the creation of a dedicated service for children has been delayed in part due to an internal HSE dispute over whether to support the NGS model of care or a model developed by HSE’s Quality Improvement Department.
The presentation for politicians will be joined by Donal O’Shea, NGS Consultant Endocrinologist and Ian Schneider, NGS Consultant Psychiatrist, by Fiona McNicholas, Professor of Child Psychiatry at UCD and Consultant at Children’s Hospital Ireland Crumlin.
They provide an overview of the state of Irish gender services and trends including a rapid increase in the proportion of autistic patients presenting.
According to the invitation, the topics to be covered include “care pathways, the multidisciplinary approach, waiting lists and holistic supports”.
“Me and Charles Flanagan are bringing in some specialists right now to provide a briefing on what’s involved with dysphoria, what choices are made in adolescent and post-adolescent people, what treatments they can receive and the risks involved,” McDowell said .
“Any member of the Oireachtas is free to come. It shouldn’t be a debate. It’s a briefing from experts. Our event is intended solely to provide information from professionals in the field and to allow people to form their own opinions. It’s not about making decisions or arguing.
“We just feel like there’s a lot of argumentative exchange of views out there in the public domain, but not a lot of medical or psychiatric fact.”
Neasa Hourigan, a Greens TD, asked the former ministers to invite a wider range of speakers to include representatives of the transgender community, but said their request had not been granted.
NGS has refused to work with Teni, one of the largest transgender support groups, for the past several years over allegations of hostile and inappropriate social media posts it sent by Teni staff about NGS clinicians.
Teni criticized the NGS for acting as “gatekeepers” by preventing patients from accessing hormone treatments without thorough screening.
A spokesman for Mr Donnelly said he was awaiting a report from Colm Henry, the HSE’s Chief Clinical Officer, on the implications of Hilary Cass’ report on the Tavistock Clinic before discussing the next steps in the development of Ireland’s gender services decide He said a reply from junior minister Frank Feighan in the Dáil last month that the department had already received Mr Henry’s report was inaccurate.
The HSE said: “Currently children and young people can be referred from CAMHS to the Tavistock and Portman Trust specialist service through the Treatment Abroad Scheme. As part of the care model, there are plans to develop these specialized services here in Ireland.”
