The Children’s Minister has expressed support for criminalising so-called conversion therapy.

Roderic O’Gorman met with the cross-party Anti Conversion Therapy Coalition (ACTC) group, as well as Sinn Féin Senator Fintan Warfield on Tuesday.

The Senator’s Prohibition of Conversion Therapies Bill 2018 would apply to any practice that seeks to change or suppress a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. It would allow someone to legally change their gender, but prohibit anyone else from influencing that person against that change.

A spokesperson for the Minister said that his department has prepared an initial “scoping paper” on the practise, “and intends to move forward with further detailed research which will provide the necessary evidence base for legislative proposals to ban conversion therapy”.

After Tuesday’s meeting, the cross-party group said the Minister expressed an “eagerness” in working with Senator Warfield and his Bill.

While the Minister has not yet decided if the Sinn Féin Bill will be supported, it is understood that he shares the “same goal” of banning the practise.

“Minister O’Gorman highlighted some legal concerns regarding how any legislation could be worded but was optimistic that this could be ironed out with further research and a more holistic view of the shape this practice takes in Ireland,” said a spokesperson for the group.