The Tánaiste has told an Oireachtas Committee that there should be a third gender option on the census along with female and male.

Leo Varadkar told the Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality that it is “definitely something the Government is open to”.

The Tánaiste was responding to Green Party TD Neasa Hourigan who said that there were people who wanted to identify as non-binary in the census and were unable to do so.

He said that “there should be a third option”, adding that he would have to consult “statisticians and the CSO [Central Statistics Office] as to how best to do that”.

Mr Varadkar was appearing before the Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality today to discuss the recommendations of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality regarding pay and workplace conditions.