New Irish Govt Programme, same ‘conversion therapy’ promise

Earlier this month, the Irish Government unveiled its Spring 2026 Programme. The legislative programme contains a commitment to “advance legislation to ban conversion practices”. This is the exact same wording that appeared in the Spring 2025 Programme for Government.

Efforts to legislate for a ban date back to April 2018, when a Private Member’s Bill was brought by former Sinn Féin Senator and LGBTQ+ advocate Fintan Warfield. Although the Government wanted to support the Bill, it ultimately withheld its backing after legal advice determined the Bill was “not clear enough in its language”. 

After the Bill fell in 2020, then Equalities Minister Roderic O’Gorman announced his intention to pass a Government Bill by the end of 2023. Yet, even with the full range of Government resources at his disposal, O’Gorman failed to even publish a Bill by the November 2024 general election. He admitted to The Irish Times, that drafting a tightly drawn Bill that is “safe from legal challenge” had proven to be “extremely complex”.

While ‘conversion therapy’ has remained on the Government’s list of Bills for ‘priority drafting’, there has been little sign of progress. The Government’s commitment to ‘advance’ rather than ‘pass’ legislation – which was the language of its predecessor – also suggests that, after years of attempting to produce a workable Bill, it is no closer to publishing legislation. 

‘Fool’s errand’

Fast forward to last month, when the Dáil debated a non-binding calling for a trans-inclusive conversion therapy ban, alongside other demands for gender-affirming healthcare. The motion was tabled by the Irish Labour Party, which hold eleven of the 174 seats in the Dáil.

Although the motion passed, even pro-ban Sinn Fein TD David Cullinane acknowledged the risk of unintended consequences.

He said: “Legislation must be drafted precisely and clearly” in order to “target abusive or ideological conversion practices while not creating unintended consequences that criminalise legitimate clinical practice or parents supporting a child through distress”. 

Responding on behalf of the Government, the Minister for Health said that the Department of Children, Equality and Disability “has been carefully reviewing key policy principles… to ensure individuals are protected from harmful conversion practices, while safeguarding access to necessary and appropriate services for those seeking support”.

While it’s good that the Government recognises the need to proceed with caution, nowhere in the debate was it actually acknowledged that abuse is already illegal. To suggest that gay and trans people have fewer protections in law than other people, is not only wrong but dangerous.

If the past eight years have taught the Irish Government anything, it should be that legislating in this area is a fool’s errand. It’s simply not possible to extend the criminal law to cover innocent activities – like prayer and parental support – without encroaching on the freedoms of ordinary people.