Courtney McGrailStaff reporter
Savage cuts in State funding for marriage counselling appears to have beggared ACCORD with the Church agency relying on the hierarchy to give assurances to Bank of Ireland about the repayment of substantial debts.
ACCORD has been hit by cuts of over 42% in recent years, and just days before the referendum on same-sex marriage, the Government revealed that it was withdrawing all financial support for pre-marriage courses.
New accounts filed by the hierarchy reveal that the four archbishops of Ireland had to write a so-called ‘letter of comfort’ to Bank of Ireland in 2014 in relation to a debt of €400,000.
This assurance, which ran out at the end of July, is just short of a legal guarantee in relation to the debt.
By May this year, the debt had risen marginally to €420,000 and the bishops issued a further letter of comfort which is not due to run out until mid-2016.
Grant aid
In 2010, Accord in the Republic received Government grant aid to the tune of almost €3.5 million from the Family Support Agency (now Tusla, Child and Family Agency).
In 2014, however, the grant aid had dipped to just €1.9 million – a cut of more than 42%.
During 2014, ACCORD met with over 60,000 people for counselling sessions. Bishop of Kildare & Leighlin Dr Denis Brennan described this as “an extraordinary figure”.
He said it demonstrates “the relevance and value of ACCORD for our society today, as well as the high esteem and trust in which we are held by the Irish people”.
This 60,000 figure breaks down as: 15,504 persons in marriage preparation courses; 9,233 clients availing of 46,656 marriage counselling hours (38,880 sessions); while 35,997 people attended our schools’ programme.
In 2014, ACCORD’s counselling service benefited 6,300 families, including 13,832 children up to the age of eighteen years old.