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I have just two more questions, on single-sex spaces and on religion.

The committee has heard concerns—obviously, you have heard them as well—that the system of self-declaration will open up the bill to abuse by bad-faith actors who could invade women’s single-sex spaces. What is your response to those concerns and will you be considering provisions such as blocking people convicted of sex crimes from obtaining a GRC through self-declaration? If not, can you tell the committee what the bill does to address the concerns about the safety of women and girls in relation to bad-faith actors who may exploit the bill?

Good afternoon, Senator Doherty. The committee has covered quite a lot already. I will try to discuss an area that has not been covered, and I will go back to some areas to seek more clarity.

My colleague Rachael Hamilton spoke about data collection in relation to health and justice. I want to talk a bit about data collection on the basis of gender as opposed to sex and the potential impact on equality measures such as the gender pay gap. Did the introduction of a self-identification policy result in similar concerns? Do you share any of those concerns? Are you aware of the policy in Ireland having an effect on any other data collection policies?

I know that you covered justice and health a little when my colleague asked about them. My question is more about the gender pay gap, because some of our witnesses have talked about that. I would like to hear a little about your concerns and your thoughts on how you tackled that area.

Thank you, Senator Doherty.

Thank you for that, Senator Doherty. You are absolutely correct that everybody—whether they are a trans person or they come from a religious background—has that right, but how can we impose such things upon people who follow certain religions? You probably heard my example that involved a woman going to a doctor. How does that work? You said that that situation has not come up in Ireland yet, but would you also consider that when you look at gender equality stuff? We will consider those things, and we have heard from witnesses with different views. We need to ensure that we have a fair playing field for everybody to access services and spaces.

We have talked a little about the example of people using changing spaces, so you are aware of that. I will watch my wording, but another example is that, if a woman of colour—perhaps someone who is Indian—or a Muslim woman goes to a doctor, asks for a smear test, for example, asks for a female doctor and the doctor is a trans female, the patient would not know, and it is not up to the trans person to tell the patient who they are, because that is their right, which is understandable. It would break the religion of that female if she later found out that the doctor was trans, but she would not have had the opportunity to know, because the trans person has the right to privacy. However, the person with the religious belief also has the right to know who they are being treated by.

It would be good if you could tell us how we can reach a happy medium in which we respect both sides and come out with a balanced view that can help services to be delivered.

Thank you for being so honest about that, Senator Doherty. In looking at our bill now, we have a good opportunity to look at those areas.

I want to go back to what my colleague Pam Duncan-Glancy spoke about in relation to the work that you did with groups around accessing services and single-sex spaces, and to touch on women of faith. You have probably been following our committee’s work. People have raised that issue with me personally, and it has also been brought up in the committee. How did you go about addressing that issue in your 2015 act? Did religious groups and women of faith raise that issue of accessing services and single-sex spaces? Did you come across that in any of the work that you did?

Thank you very much, Senator Doherty. I have one last point, on the back of my colleague Fulton MacGregor speaking about age. Perhaps you could elaborate on that.

You know that we are looking at changing the age for a GRC from 18 to 16 years old. We have heard from many people on that—some are for and some are against. On the one hand, there is the fact that, at 16 or 17, someone can go ahead and get married, and they can vote. On the other hand, people have concerns because they feel that those people are not yet adults who are able to make such decisions. At that age, people cannot get a credit card, for example—certain things cannot happen in their life.

What is your view on balance in that regard, if we go down to 16? I know that, in your legislation, that age cohort requires both parental consent and medical evidence in order to be granted the court order that is required. Perhaps you can touch on that a little bit.

Good morning to the panel. Thank you for your opening statements and the information that you have provided. On the back of what my colleague Pam Duncan-Glancy has been talking about, what are your thoughts on the system being open to abuse by bad-faith actors who wish to gain access to single-sex spaces; and what are your thoughts on specific concerns for women of faith?

Good afternoon, panel, and thank you for your opening statements. My questions are about the potential for these reforms to allow bad-faith actors to obtain GRCs more easily. The self-ID-based gender recognition system in Victoria, Australia, includes additional checks and safeguards for applicants such as registered sex offenders and prisoners. Are you aware of any other international examples of such additional checks? Do you believe that those additional checks would provide an important additional safeguard?

You say that a trans woman is a woman and a trans man is a man. How do you feel about religious people—minority groups out there—who feel that their religion will be impacted if somebody else is in that space? We heard in one of our private sessions that that would exclude more women and girls from minority groups. I do not know whether you have an example, but it would be good to hear your thoughts on why minority groups would not be affected if a trans woman came into a changing room, space or service.