Junior Minister, Martin Mansergh, has denied changing his mind on the issue of conscientious objection and religious freedom.

In a speech during the Dail debate last month on the Civil Partnership Bill, Minister Mansergh said he would not support giving a right of conscientious objections to public servants such as civil registrars.

This appeared to contradict an article in The Irish Catholic in 2007, when he wrote that, “no person or organisation should be forced by legislation or agencies of the State to act in a manner contrary to their conscientious religious beliefs”.

In a letter to the Irish Catholic last week, Mr Mansergh said there was no contradiction.

He said that he still believed that voluntary bodies, such as Catholic adoption agencies, “providing alternatives with a religious ethos” should not be forced to act against their religious ethos, but that this could not be extended to public servants.

He wrote: “Though I have listened to the case made by the Iona Institute, I support the view of the Minister for Justice that public officials cannot have an à la carte approach to their legal duties.”

However, it is still unclear whether Minister Mansergh would support exemptions for church halls and private providers of goods and services such as photographers who do not wish to facilitate same-sex civil unions.