Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)

As the Minister of State will know, on 23 June 2021 the Hungarian Parliament passed a law significantly curbing the rights of members of the LGBTQI+ community in Hungary. As it came into effect on 1 July 2021, next week that law will have been passed for four years. It is hugely problematic from the point of view of Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union. It clearly curbs fundamental rights that are set out there, not least freedom of expression, equality, non-discrimination, pluralism and tolerance. As a result the European Commission took a legal action against the Hungarian Government in July 2021, that is, four years ago. It is hard to discern what exactly has happened in that regard since then. While I am aware that the Commission has massively curtailed payments to Hungary, amounting to billions of euro during that time, the law has gone pretty much unabated since then. As a result, ordinary people who are members of the LGBTQI+ community in Hungary are massively curtailed, not just in their activities, their freedom of expression and their right to play a full part in society in Hungary but they are also in genuine fear of falling foul of this law and finding themselves at the end of a criminal conviction or a criminal prosecution in any event.

The European Commission stated in a tweet in 2021 announcing that it was taking the legal action against Hungary, that Europe will never allow parts of our society to be stigmatised. That is a laudable aim and I support that. Ireland also supports that goal but it does appear to have allowed them to be stigmatised during the past four years because those actions have not been taken.

It has been condemned by 17 member states, including Ireland, within the European Union. I want to put on record my support for the work that the Irish Embassy in Budapest to support the rights of LGBTQI+ people and the rights of the Pride parade in Budapest, which I understand will take place next week but which is technically against the law now in Hungary. Those efforts essentially are being ignored by Fidesz, by Viktor Orbán and the Hungarian Government. If we are seriously to respect the rights that are set down in the Treaty on European Union and if we embody them in Ireland, we need first to assure ourselves we are doing everything we can to make it clear that we oppose this and make that clear on the international stage and at European level, at European Council meetings and in all our dealings with the Hungarian Government; and second, we actually need to take concrete action.

The Minister of State should tell me what Ireland is doing and what the Commission is doing in real terms to tackle what flies in the face of fundamental principles that we associate with being part of the European Union.

We know that in Ireland we have huge support for membership of the European Union. Well over 80% people in this country recognise the value it has had for us. I would say that the same value with membership of the European Union could be ascribed to Hungary and yet, whatever it is, 157 out of 158 MPs in 2021 voted for this law. What is it that they do not see? How can we make them see it? How can we share with them the benefits of being part of a pluralist society that respects diversity, difference of opinions and difference in perspectives on things like sexuality? If we stand back and allow it to happen, then what is the point of being part of a European Union that lays down those fundamental rights for all European citizens, not just those whose governments choose to give them to them, but all European citizens, irrespective of what country they live in or under which government they live? Let us be clear in our voice on this and tell us what we can do to make this different.

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