Press Release: Wednesday 24 June 2026
Minister for Health and Minister for Mental Health establish Policy and Oversight Group for Gender Healthcare
Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill TD and Minister for Mental Health, Mary Butler TD have established a Policy and Oversight Group for Gender Healthcare in the Department of Health.
The purpose of the Policy and Oversight Group is to provide strategic oversight in relation to the Programme for Government’s commitment to “ensure a gender healthcare service is based on clinical evidence, respect, inclusiveness and compassion.”
The Group will be co-chaired by the Ministers with membership that includes the Chief Medical Officer, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer, the Chief Nursing Officer and other relevant Department of Health officials.
Following the first formal meeting of the Group, Minister Carroll MacNeill and Minister Butler visited the Outhouse LQBTQ+ centre on Dublin’s Capel Street as part of the centre’s Pride Week programme to receive a briefing from teams on the issues facing the LGBTQ+ community including poverty, homelessness and alcohol and other drug misuse.
Speaking following the meetings, Minister Carroll MacNeill said:
“A priority for Minister Butler and I is the delivery the Programme for Government commitment to establish a gender healthcare service based on clinical evidence, respect, inclusivity, and compassion.
“I’m grateful to the Chief Clinical Officer of the Health Service Executive (HSE) Dr Colm Henry and his team for providing the Policy & Oversight Group with an update on the development of a new Model of Care for gender healthcare services.
“As it is Pride Week, I enjoyed visiting Outhouse again to hear directly from the LGBTQ+ community about the issues facing people with Minister Butler. I was deeply struck by our conversation and the importance of having a space to feel safe, seen and celebrated – the very essence of Pride.”
Minister Butler said:
“We had a productive meeting of the Policy & Oversight Group where I shared some of the international best practice witnessed on my recent visits to learn about gender healthcare services in Iceland, Malta and Spain.”
“What was clear from these visits was that gender-affirming care can be compassionate, dignified and respectful of a person’s gender identity while also providing excellent evidence-based care led by a multidisciplinary team of experienced clinicians.”
“Most people just want a service that will support them, particularly with access to counselling and psychotherapy, and we saw really successful examples of this in Iceland, Malta and Spain where nursing and social work professionals provided wraparound supports to people throughout their journeys.”
“Irish law has recognised the right of an individual to determine their own gender identity since 2015, and approximately 2,500 people have obtained a gender recognition certificate over the past decade. It is long overdue that we provide this small, and often vulnerable cohort of people with adequate healthcare that affirms their legal gender identity.”
“I will continue to work closely with the Minister for Health, our officials and the HSE and community partners to deliver a service based on the best clinical evidence that compassionately and respectfully supports people to live their best lives.”