The Government is set to recognise the altered birth certs of people who have had their genders ‘reassigned’ overseas, but they are not yet changing the birth certs of people who have had their gender reassigned in Ireland.

In addition, it will allow that person to marry a person of the ‘opposite’ sex.

In a statement of policy on the issue of transgender people submitted to the Council of Europe, the Government has set out its policy on allowing transgender people to marry a person of the opposite sex, the Irish Times reports.

It says work is “in progress” on this issue, adding “gender reassignment is not yet recognised in Ireland”.

“However, the General Registrar Office in Ireland will accept a birth certificate amended by another State where gender reassignment is recognised in support of notification of intention to marry or to enter into a civil partnership, from a person born outside of Ireland.”

The statement, sent by the Government in January, is in response to a questionnaire to all 47 Council member states.

The Council of Europe is a separate organisation to the EU. Its associate bodies include the European Court of Human Rights, which overseas compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights.

The High Court ruled in October 2007 that Irish law was in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights for refusing to recognise the ‘acquired gender’ of transgender people. The State moved to appeal to the Supreme Court but withdrew this in June 2010.

Since then both the current and previous Government said they would introduce legislation to allow people who claim to have changed their sex to change their birth certificates.  

The proposed legislation would require applicants to have lived with their preferred gender for at least two years.

If applicants can provide a formal medical diagnosis of their condition they do not have to undergo a ‘sex change’ operation, meaning they would not have to have the sexual organs of the sex into which they were born removed.

Applicants must also be over 18 and they must not be in a subsisting marriage or civil partnership.

Under the proposed bill, an independent three member “Gender Recognition” Panel will be established, which will assess applications. A legal “Gender Recognition” Certificate will be issued along with a new birth cert.

The bill sets out that a person whose gender has been legally recognised would be entitled to marry a person of the opposite sex, or to enter a civil partnership with a person of the same sex.

Other countries have different requirements. For example, Germany requires that a person undergo a sex change operation before their official documentation will be changed.

The proposed Irish law will be modeled on the UK law which is among the most liberal in Europe.