The Government is planning legislation which will give those who have ‘acquired a new gender’ the right to marry.

In response to a Dáil question from Sinn Féin TD Aengus Ó’Snodaigh, Minister for Social Protection Éamon Ó’Cuiv (pictured) said that the Government was committed to to introducing “legal recognition of the acquired gender of transsexuals”.

He said that the Renewed Programme for Government concluded with the Greens in October 2009 contained a commitment to introduce such legislation.

Mr O’Cuiv added that an interdepartmental committee was being established to advise him on what such legislation would include.

He added that establishing a process for legally recognising “transgendered” who had “made the transition from one gender to another”, the establishment of a gender recognition register, the granting of entitlement to marry in the legally recognised reassigned gender, and other provisions “as may be deemed necessary consequent on the main provisions of the Bill” would be included.

The committee had its first meeting last Thursday, and it is envisaged that the committee will invite submissions from interested groups, experts in the field and the public.

Mr O’Cuiv said that he expected that the committee would make its recommendations within a period of about six months, but added that it wasn’t possible to say when the resulting proposals would be included in the legislative programme or when a bill would be introduced.