Promised legislation to ban so-called ‘conversion therapy’ is unlikely to be enacted within the Government’s lifetime, which can only last until next spring at the outside, Minister for Children and Equality Roderic O’Gorman has said.

Last September, the Scottish government postponed a ban amid fears it could criminalise parents who question their child’s attempts to make their ‘gender’ different than their biological sex.

In Ireland, psychiatrist Dr Paul Moran of the HSE’s National Gender Service (NGS) said the proposed bill was unnecessary and could be weaponised against doctors working with patients suffering with gender dysphoria.

Likewise, Dr Karl Neff, also at the NGS said the research justifying the bill was weak, limited, and biased.

Speaking on Friday, Mr O’Gorman said he had hoped legislation outlawing the practice would be “more advanced” by now.

The Minister said aspects of it had proven to be “extremely complex” and he was continuing to engage with Attorney General Rossa Fanning on the matter.

The programme for government contains a commitment to legislate to end the practice of ‘conversion therapy’. But with an election having to happen by March, and many expecting one later this year, the law is unlikely to progress at this stage.