Top clinician: ‘Ireland must not push kids down trans-affirming path’

The Republic of Ireland must not endorse an “activist-informed model of care” that would put gender-confused children at “incredible risk”, a top clinician has warned.

Prof Donal O’Shea, an endocrinologist at the National Gender Service for adults and who describes himself as “pro-trans”, warned that the HSE is inviting activists to create a trans-affirming clinical pathway, which would be “dangerous and goes against all emerging evidence of the need to be safe and careful”.

Prof O’Shea said that despite previously being reprimanded for raising concerns over the referral of Irish children to the Tavistock clinic: “It’s more important to speak out when there is a culture in an organisation that is prepared to lie, intimidate, mislead” and use “funds to put vulnerable individuals at incredible risk”.

‘Intimidated’

Currently, Ireland does not have specialist psychological services for gender-confused children so they are referred abroad to clinics such as the Tavistock in London. Under new proposals, children would be referred to a Belgian clinic by Dr Vanessa Lacey, a former senior manager at the trans-affirming Transgender Equality Network Ireland.

there is a culture that is prepared to lie and intimidate

Prof O’Shea criticised officials for “actively misleading an incredibly vulnerable group of patients by directing them towards a service that I think it’s reasonable to say is at least as bad as Tavistock, but most likely worse”.

Writing in the Irish Daily Mail, journalist Brenda Power commented that when clinicians such as Dr O’Shea “suggest counselling and assessment of possible underlying reasons for gender dysphoria”, they are “threatened, intimidated and abused by activists. Yet these are the people the HSE wants to put in charge of the service”.

at least as bad as Tavistock, but most likely worse

‘Totally inadequate’

Earlier this year, former Government Minister Charlie Flanagan called for an independent review into Ireland’s service for gender-confused young people, claiming the HSE’s investigation was a clear conflict of interest.

In March, the HSE claimed to find, “No evidence that a gender affirming approach has influenced hormonal therapy in Ireland.”

But after emails released under Freedom of Information showed the investigation had refused to question assessments being made at a Tavistock-influenced clinic in Dublin, Flanagan branded the report “a whitewash”.

Flanagan observed: “It seems clear the clinical experts were completely ignored. There are glaring omissions and the terms of reference for the report were totally inadequate.”