Independent Ireland TD Ken O’Flynn has said the Government must immediately publish a completed expert assessment of the Cass Review into gender healthcare, which is currently sitting with senior HSE management but has not been released to the public or the Oireachtas.
The Cork North Central TD said the withholding of the report raises serious questions about transparency and governance at the highest level of the health service.
“This assessment has been completed by the HSE’s own expert group. It is now with the Chief Executive. Families, clinicians and legislators are being left in the dark and there is no excuse for that,” he said.
In a written reply to a Parliamentary Question submitted by Deputy O’Flynn, the HSE confirmed that the expert assessment of the Cass Review findings has been finalised and is awaiting senior executive consideration.
“The Cass Review is one of the most significant and rigorous international examinations of paediatric gender healthcare to date. If Ireland has completed its review of that work, there is no justification for keeping it behind closed doors,” the Cork TD said.
The Cass Review, an independent investigation commissioned by the British government and overseen by a leading pediatrician Dr Hilary Cass, found that there is no good evidence to support giving puberty blockers and wrong sex hormones to under 18s to manage distress about their bodies.
It also noted that social transition (where schools, for example, enable students to change their names, pronouns, clothing and bathroom use) is a pipeline to medical transition, and found that it was false to claim that not prescribing puberty blockers increases the risk of suicide.
O’Flynn said public trust in health policy depends on openness and accountability.
“Health policy must be grounded in published evidence. If an expert assessment has been done, the public has a right to see it. Otherwise we’re operating in a vacuum and confidence in the system is steadily eroded.”
The same response also confirms that Ireland is not bound to align its healthcare policy with any international organisation, including WPATH, and that a new national Model of Care is still being developed.
“That makes the need for clarity all the more urgent. Clinicians are left without clear direction. Families are navigating a system without a map. And the Oireachtas cannot perform its role if evidence is being withheld.”
Deputy O’Flynn has now tabled further Parliamentary Questions seeking a publication timeline, clarity on the status the assessment will hold in Irish policy, and information on what safeguards are in place while the review remains unpublished.
“Families deserve evidence, not delays. Clinicians deserve clarity, not ambiguity. The Oireachtas deserves answers,” he said.