Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan. All politicians should be pro-family and look after the example set by Hungary’s family policies, according to Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan.
The bishop of Waterford and Lismore said: “We see the promotion of the rights of the individual over family (in Ireland). In Hungary, in contrast, you are promoting the priority and importance of families.”
The Hungarian Minister for Family, Ms Katalin Novak from the Fidesz party spoke at Glencomeragh House in Co. Waterford about the initiatives her government has taken to incentivise young people to have large families.
She said in 2010 they began with a country “on the brink of collapse politically, economically and morally as well”. There was a low fertility rate and an ageing population.
Reductions
One of the right-wing nationalist party’s main initiatives, alongside a personal income tax reduction for every child, is the Baby Expecting Subsidy; every married couple with the wife between 18 and 40 years old is eligible for an interest-free loan of €30,736 (HUF 10 million), which buys a home in Hungary.
Suspended repayments, reductions in debt and debt cancellation are on the cards for couples who have one to three children.
Ms Novak presented the Bishop with a book about Our Lady of Gyor (Our Lady of Consolations).
The book shows a connection between Hungary and Ireland through Bishop Lynch who brought an image of the Blessed Mother from Clonfert Cathedral and to the Cathedral in Gyor. It’s said on St Patrick’s Day, March 17, 1697, the image wept tears of blood.