Minister for Health Simon Harris is disposed to allowing under 16s procure abortions without their parents consent or knowledge, according to Tipperary TD, Mattie McGrath.

McGrath said Harris was lobbied by the Social Democrats at a recent cross-party briefing in his office for “a World Health Organisation approach to termination”, which does not favour seeking parental consent in advance, and he said the Minister appeared to entertain the request.

A spokeswoman for Harris played down the claims but did not outright deny them. She said the minister had made no commitment at a recent meeting with opposition TDs, except that he would not deviate from the fundamentals of the abortion bill published before the referendum on May 25.

“In general, parental consent is required for children under 16 to have medical and surgical treatment and there are no plans to change that,” she said.

McGrath is concerned that the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill does not include a requirement that girls under 16 must have parental permission to get an abortion. He is planning to propose an amendment to the bill at committee stage to insert a requirement for parental consent except in cases of incest.