Schools should provide “basic information regarding sexuality in the fullest sense”, according to President Michael D Higgins. Traditionally, it has been extremely unusual for presidents to make public interventions of this sort.

His remarks comes amid a controversy about whether elements of a radical theory of gender, divorced from biology, should be forced into the primary school curriculum.

Speaking on International Women’s Day, President Higgins said there is a “need for the appropriate dissemination” of this information by those “responsible for providing education”.

He added: “The requirement for respect to be shown, and the right for it to be experienced, should be available to all. It is necessary that it be taught, encouraged, and its absence sanctioned.”

The President did not elaborate how or what kind of sanctions should be imposed on schools reluctant to teach gender ideology.