Ireland’s Equalities and Integration Minister has vowed to bring a Bill before the Dail to ban ‘conversion therapy’.
Green Party TD Roderic O’Gorman said he will push to get the Bill through by the end of the year.
In December, the Scottish Government was warned that its far-reaching ‘conversion therapy’ ban amounts to Holyrood overreach.
O’Gorman, who is gay, admitted that so called conversion therapy rarely takes place but still wants to change the law.
UK-based LGBT activist Jayne Ozanne was “thrilled” to hear of O’Gorman’s pledge and urged Westminster to follow Ireland’s example.
Ozanne, Chair of ‘Ban Conversion Therapy’, has previously called for “gentle, non-coercive prayer” to be included in the ban.
She told Premier Christianity: “I’m trying to ban harmful prayer that has a predetermined purpose that is directed at an individual with an aim to change”.
Ciarán Kelly, The Christian Institute’s Deputy Director said: “People should of course be protected from physical and verbal abuse, but most of these practices are already illegal.
“The Irish Government would do well to apply the law and if genuine loopholes exist close them but don’t make Scotland’s mistake of introducing a totalitarian ban that criminalises preaching, praying and parenting.”
In a legal opinion for The Christian Institute, Aidan O’Neill KC warned that the “fundamentally illiberal” proposals are “beyond the powers of the Scottish Parliament to legislate”.
The Christian Institute commissioned written legal advice from Aidan O’Neill KC in December 2022. This booklet offers a summary and extracts of the legal opinion received.
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