Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome our guests. I have read up on the issues raised by them and it is clear that the Hungarian authorities are engaged in a series of frightening actions.

The tragedy is that Hungary is a beautiful country and its people can be very beautiful too. Its parliament is a spectacular building which is the pride and joy of the people of Budapest. I would encourage anyone who has not visited it to do so. We think of parliaments that have been the seats of democracy and of the democratic process, engagement and progression. When I see and hear Transparency International's contribution, however, and I think of our membership of the EU - all 28 of us all working together as a cohesive force - and how we develop policies around human rights, civil liberties and all the rest, it seems to me that the government, with its overall majority and its clear popularity, is fundamentally threatening a lot of what we thought the European Union was about. For example, we are speaking about the funding stream for Mr. Ligeti's organisation. I am not sure what the Norwegian organisation is or who funds it, why they were founded or what their purpose is, except that Transparency International Hungary is a recipient of it.

I see attacks on structures and political movements as well as attacks on groups such as the Roma. It is argued that the Roma should be segregated in the schooling system, but I have seen the Roma districts in Budapest myself and quite frankly they are already marginalised, with a lot of alcohol abuse and homelessness. I thought our collective aim was to engage and integrate with them, and there is money from the EU for this. It seems to be the opposite position in Hungary. We get worried when we see attacks on the media and legislation trying to control the media. We get very worried when we hear of the Jobbik party, a very strong right-wing party that is openly anti-Semitic. We are talking about all of these issues within the EU.

We have a homelessness problem here, but nobody at the moment is advocating that we arrest homeless people or forcibly move them on, which seems to be the policy in Hungary. We are about to have a referendum on marriage, which I hope will be successful. In Hungary they seem to be restricting marriage to being between a man and a woman. This flies against the general direction in which Europe is developing. It would worry me that a privileged status for churches is allegedly being invoked, particularly given our experience in Ireland of white Roman Catholic power in the past. Mr. Ligeti might explain it to me. We amended our constitution not to give but to take away the particular status of the Roman Catholic church.

With regard to the debate about the premature retirement of judges, it seems to me that one's hair must stand on end when one thinks of 274 judges being retired prematurely at age 62, whereas in Ireland judges go on to whatever age. There is a very strong argument against ageism, particularly in the legal profession, where judges can accumulate vast experience and knowledge.

They are all the negatives that have been presented to us. What does frighten me - I did not really know about this - is the existence of far-right militias in Hungary. There is a suggestion that Jobbik has links with an outlawed Hungarian paramilitary guard group. We had our paramilitary groups here but we took them on. I understand there may be selective assassinations of Roma and others going on in Hungary. If all of that is happening, the key question I want to ask is what my colleague asked. We are a family of 28, and we have been making progress away from those negative things that have been brought to our attention in relation to the role of Hungary in the Union. I understand that quite a number of people have expressed dismay at and strong condemnation of what is happening in Hungary. Could Mr. Ligeti tell us whether he thinks the EU is moving fast enough? It has a three-stage approach - governments talking to governments, Commissioners talking to parliaments, and so on. How would he like us to speed it up? Does he have faith in the process? It seems to be very long and tortuous. How best would he advocate for us as parliamentarians in Ireland to engage in a positive way with parliamentarians in Hungary with a view to trying to get them on board the European family's programme, which seems to be completely the opposite of what they are pursuing?