The Labour Party yesterday introduced a motion in the Dáil for a new National Clinical Programme for transgender healthcare, citing extensive wait times under the current centralised service.  

The All Ireland Science Media Centre asked experts to comment.

Dr John Gilmore, Assistant Professor in Nursing, University College Dublin, comments:

    “Ireland’s current model of healthcare for trans and gender diverse people is profoundly inadequate and increasingly out of step with international best practice.

    “A system characterised by extreme waiting times, outdated clinical pathways, and a lack of accessible primary-care-led options cannot reasonably be described as a functioning clinical service. Such delays are not benign administrative issues. They represent avoidable harm, undermining the health, dignity, and wellbeing of the very people the service is meant to support.

    “During my visits to leading services in Europe and the United States, I have seen primary-care-led, informed-consent models delivering timely, person-centred, and safe care. These systems recognise that an affirming and informed consent model is not a fringe concept or a shortcut around clinical standards. It is a foundational principle of evidence-based healthcare. Across all areas of medicine, the preferences and lived experiences of those accessing care are essential components of good clinical decision-making. Trans healthcare should be no exception.

    “Despite this, certain actors in Ireland continue to portray informed consent as radical, risky, or incompatible with safe practice. This characterisation is misleading and ignores decades of international evidence. Modern, rights-based gender-affirming care is grounded in collaboration, respect, and shared decision-making between clinicians and patients. It does not diminish clinical oversight. It strengthens it by ensuring that care is responsive, holistic, and aligned with established standards such as WPATH and the growing body of primary care research.

    “Ireland urgently needs a shift toward an accessible, timely, and community-rooted model of care that reflects current evidence and respects the autonomy of trans people. Anything less perpetuates inequity and maintains a system that is failing those who depend on it most.”

    Declarations of interest: “No conflicts of interest to declare.

    Note: “Some scholarly pieces I’ve written or contributed below:

    Gilmore, J. P., Dainton, M., & Halpin, N. (2024). Authentic allyship for gender minorities. Journal of nursing scholarship : an official publication of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, 56(1), 5–8. 

    Gilmore, J. P., & Field, D. J. (2025). Exploring the Healthcare Experiences and Preferences of LGBT+ People: An Online Asynchronous Focus Group Study. Journal of advanced nursing, 10.1111/jan.70210. Advance online publication.

    Gilmore, J. P. (2023). Healthcare rights for gender and sexual minorities. In Human Rights in Contemporary Society-Challenges From an International Perspective. IntechOpen.

    Gilmore J. (2024). Exploring Nursing Implications in the Standards of Care for Transgender and Gender Diverse Health, Version 8 by Coleman et al. (2022). Journal of advanced nursing, 10.1111/jan.16638. Advance online publication.

    Noone, C., Southgate, A., Ashman, A., Quinn, É., Comer, D., Shrewsbury, D., Ashley, F., Hartland, J., Paschedag, J., Gilmore, J., Kennedy, N., Woolley, T. E., Heath, R., Biskupovic Goulding, R., Simpson, V., Kiely, E., Coll, S., White, M., Grijseels, D. M., Ouafik, M., … McLamore, Q. (2025). Critically appraising the cass report: methodological flaws and unsupported claims. BMC medical research methodology, 25(1), 128.”