Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly received urgent requests from transgender groups to meet him about the HSE’s ongoing use of the UK’s Tavistock clinic for Irish children with gender-identity issues.
Documents released under a Freedom of Information request show Mr Donnelly was contacted by a representative from Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI) and an individual, whose name was redacted, asking to meet the minister.
The requests came in August this year following concerns about the Tavistock clinic in the UK, which provided gender dysphoria services to Irish children and teenagers.
Young people were referred to the UK clinic due to the lack of services in Ireland.
The HSE would continue to utilise Tavistock's Gender Identity Development Service despite a damning study and a recommendation that it should close, it was revealed earlier this year.
Four top clinicians from the National Gender Service responded by writing to Mr. Donnelly urgently requesting a meeting to "address the risks this brings to Irish children."
The minister's department was also called by Noah Halpin, national healthcare officer at the TENI, who asked to be included in the meeting between the department and the National Gender Service.
It would be "counter-productive," he added, to have the conference without the "very community that care paths are being addressed for," who is represented by Ireland's only transgender representative body.
In response, the department responded that they will get in touch to set up a meeting with the minister.
A request for a meeting on the clinic's continued use and in response to Mr. Donnelly's meeting with the four senior clinicians was also made to the department.
The UK clinic has received 234 recommendations for Irish children and teenagers over the past ten years, according to data.
The NHS's gender identification clinic for children and teenagers will close, it was confirmed in July.
The HSE has decided on the location and hired interdisciplinary staff as part of its intentions to establish its own service in Ireland.
Documents from the government, however, reveal that the position of a consultant psychiatrist to oversee the service was twice unsuccessfully advertised.
The HSE stated that it is examining several solutions to the issue and will keep working to find qualified personnel so it may establish its own service in Ireland.
In addition, it said that only after rigorous criteria had been evaluated by mental health experts can gender dysphoria be diagnosed.
About 40% of young adolescents who experience gender dysphoria will qualify for medical intervention.
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