A LABOUR party councilor has stood over his controversial comments about people who undergo sex-change operations and called on the party to recognise that people in rural Ireland have different views than party activists in Dublin.

Colm Keaveney from Tuam, Co Galway is facing internal disciplinary action and possible expulsion from the Labour party over comments made in last week's Sunday Tribune.

He has found himself in trouble after he claimed that the HSE should not pay for public patients to undergo sex-change operations abroad when cuts are being made to frontline services for children.

He made his comments after it was reported that the HSE has paid for at least 22 public patients to undergo sex-change operations over the past decade at a cost of around €63,000 for female-to-male operations and €30,000 for male-to-female procedures.

After Keaveney's outburst, the Labour party's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) group issued a statement outlining that they have formally initiated the party complaints procedure against Keaveney.

The LGBT group believes that his comments are contrary to Labour policy and Keaveney could now face expulsion from the party.

Keaveney refused to retract his comments this weekend and added, "I will not take a brow-beating from professional activists who are disconnected from the real needs of ordinary people.

"I was elected to represent the views of hard-working people who want accountability on how scarce public resources are spent and prioritised in our economy. Contrary to the views of some, the Labour party represents the views of people living in rural Ireland. The view and concerns of my people are as valid and equal to others in our party."

Sinn Féin's justice spokesman Aengus Ó Snodaigh issued a stinging statement asking Keaveney to retract his comments.

Keaveney responded to this criticism by claiming that the Sinn Féin statement "pales into insignificance relative to the silence of his elected Sinn Féin party colleagues in rural Ireland on the matter of transgender welfare".

"I have been led to believe that a complaint has been made regarding my views on HSE budget expenditure to the General Secretary of the Labour Party. In the interest of fair procedure and due process I will not comment further on the matter central to the alleged complaint until I have had an opportunity to consider its detail," said Keaveney. "I will not retract my comments based on a possible complaint that may or may not exist."

Labour's LGBT group also issued a statement last week outlining how a motion about transgender people was unanimously passed at the party's national conference in Galway in April. Since then it has been Labour party policy to advocate equal rights for transgendered people and call on the government to follow through on a commitment, outlined in the Programme for Government, to legislate for a Gender Recognition Act.