TAOISEACH LEO VARADKAR has said that he hopes Ireland can avoid the “culture wars” seen in other countries surrounding transgender people.

He told the Dáil that he did not want to see discussion about trans people devolve into a “big row” between people who are “woke and anti-woke”.

“I really hope that when it comes to this whole debate that we can all try to avoid the kind of culture wars that we’ve seen in other countries around the trans issue,” Varadkar said.

“The last thing the vast majority of people want in this country is a big row and a big fight between people who are woke and people who are anti-woke.”

He added that he hoped the conversation could be kept “anchored in the centre ground”.

He added that he knew people who were trans and that they have always existed, but previously had been left unacknowledged.

“Trans people are people, and they exist… They’ve always existed, maybe not acknowledged, but they’ve always existed.”

Varadkar’s comments come after saying that it makes sense to teach primary level children about transgender people, adding that the purpose of education was to teach them about the world and to prepare them for life.

“I think that when it comes to education, when it comes to children, parents and schools have a duty to inform young people about the world around them as it is,” Varadkar said, speaking in the Dáil this afternoon.

“Sooner or later, a young person is going to run into somebody who’s trans or meet somebody who’s trans. Isn’t it better that they’ve heard about it from their parents or from their teachers so they’re prepared. It just seems like common sense to me.

“It doesn’t have to be a value judgement, it doesn’t have to challenge anyone’s religious beliefs, it doesn’t have to threaten anyone’s feelings on this matter.

“It just makes sense to me that if you want to look out for children and prepare them for life and prepare them for the world around them, you don’t shield them from the reality of people and how they live their lives.”

He said that both parents and teachers need to be prepared to answer questions from children about trans people, but that it should not devolve to “don’t say trans”.

“We have to have an approach that makes sense in that regard, that teaches people about the reality of the world around them.”

Earlier today, Education Minister Norma Foley said that any decision on what may appear on an updated school curriculum would come after “very significant public consultation”, which is yet to take place.