Government drops plan to let under-16s legally change genders

4th February 2025

The new Programme for Government has dropped a plan to investigate allowing under-16s to change the legal designation of their sex and has removed a commitment to implement a controversial ‘no questions asked’, affirmative approach, to gender transitions.

The 2025 programme is radically different in relation to transgender issues to the 2020 programme agreed to by Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party and even drops a commitment to ensure public bodies use people’s so-called “preferred pronouns”.

The 2020 programme said the Government would introduce a ‘gender health model of care’ based on WPATH (The World Professional Association of Transgender Health). Those guidelines were found to “lack developmental rigour” by the UK-commissioned Hilary Cass review last year. The guidelines include prescribing puberty blocker and sex hormone to minors.

Dr Paul Moran, a consultant psychiatrist at the National Gender Service, said he was relieved to see that implementing WPATH in Ireland was no longer a government aim. Instead, the 2025 programme says the Government will “ensure a transgender healthcare service that is based on clinical evidence, respect, inclusiveness and compassion”.