Bishop appeals for an end to Govt cuts in Marriage Care Service

Women have been hit hardest, says Bishop Nulty

The new president of Accord, the marriage care service of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference, has appealed to the Government to refrain from further grant cuts. Bishop Denis Nulty said the service struggled to support families in crisis who are already under strain from austerity measures.

By the end of 2014, Accord will have experienced a reduction of 42.4% in Government grant aid, representing a total funding loss since 2010 of over €3.5million. This led to 14 permanent members of staff losing their jobs last year.

Speaking to delegates at Accord’s national conference Bishop Denis Nulty said that studies showed that married women have been hit hardest by the Government’s austerity policies, and suggested that the Government should research the cost of family failure on society.

He said that funding Accord in a sustainable way, “rather than seeking ways of further reducing its grant”, would greatly “strengthen the social fabric of this country as we move out of austerity”.

Bishop Nulty said that while Accord’s place was in supporting couples and families who struggled, budgeting constraints had “eaten into far too much time when Accord facilitators and counsellors should be concentrating on what they do best”.

The bishop said that for the “wellbeing of society”, it was essential that Accord and the State work with each other to “provide the necessary supports to strengthen marriage and the family. Investment in children and young people and in the development of responsible, respectful, caring and loving relationships between couples, whether parents or not, and between parents and their children, is a social responsibility and it makes good economic sense,” he said.

In 2013, Accord’s 57 centres nationwide provided 50,959 counselling hours; counselling 9,867 clients, 727 marriage preparation courses for 7,631 couples and 32,039 children participated in its schools programme.