Government spending on the social sector would rise to Lm194 million next year from Lm160 million at the time of the Labour government, Social Policy Minister Lawrence Gonzi said yesterday.
He told parliament that rather than dismantling the welfare state, as it was being accused of doing, this government was actually strengthening it so as to create a welfare society based on an effective partnership between the government and non-governmental organisations.
Dr Gonzi was concluding the budget debate on the Ministry of Social Policy.
Parliamentary Secretary Antoine Mifsud Bonnici, who spoke first in the evening sitting, said that as the number of elderly people increased, the government over the past four years had strengthened services so that the elderly may continue to live with their families.
The number of telecare subscribers had risen by 1,500 to 8,500 in the past four years. The handyman service had carried out 2,100 jobs so far this year. The Meals on Wheels had expanded and had provided 42,000 meals so far this year.
The home care service was being given to 3,200 houses, an increase of over 400 in four years. This service was being provided by casual social assistants, who would now be considered as part-time workers rather than self-employed.
Dr Mifsud Bonnici said an excellent service to the elderly was being given at Zammit Clapp Hospital.
The past four years saw the opening of six day care centres in collaboration with local councils and attendance to the 12 centres opened so far was increasing. Another centre would be opened in Mosta in January.
Dr Mifsud Bonnici said major improvements had been made in residential homes for the elderly. St Vincent de Paul Home had seen the opening of a new wards block, refurbishment and upgrading of other wards, the opening of clinics and better services by social workers. This work was continuing with the building of new wards in three storey buildings which would be completed next year.
An excellent home for 107 elderly persons had been opened at Cospicua. The Floriana, Msida and Mtarfa homes had been extended. Furthermore, a public private partnership was launched over the past year as a result of which 80 persons were benefiting from accommodation.
In total the Department of the Elderly had found accommodation for 120 elderly people this year and 230 over the past four years.
Work was now in hand on doubling of the size of Zejtun home. Work on a home and a day care centre in Mellieha would be started next year. The project would also include a clinic and facilities for supported living for people with disabilities.
Dr Mifsud Bonnici, quoting from the electoral programme, said the PN never promised a full cost of living increase to pensioners but it had promised that increases would be calculated on a cost of living index for the elderly. That index had been introduced in this budget. As a result the elderly in this budget received a slightly higher increase than the two-thirds cost of living increase. The elderly were also benefiting from many social measures announced in the budget.
Dr Mifsud Bonnici said that over the past four years the government had worked for better integration into society by people with disabilities. He recalled the enactment of the Equal Opportunities Act. People with disabilities were now benefiting from services also given to the elderly. Measures were being taken for access for such people to public buildings and lifts were also being installed in government housing blocks.
Two resource centres had been opened and increased assistance was being given to NGOs which worked for people with disabilities including those with mental difficulties. The Housing Authority too was providing more housing for people with disabilities and the ETC was providing training.
Despite financial constraints, the government would spend more on these sectors next year to build on its achievements, Dr Mifsud Bonnici said. And the elderly and persons with disabilities stood to benefit even more if Malta joined the EU.
Mrs Helen D'Amato (PN) said the higher ceilings for eligibility for various social benefits was sure to make life easier for many, because nobody had been forgotten. It was unfair to say that the new children's allowance levels were treating third and later children in any family as if they were illegitimate.
Another measure was doing away with the anomaly in which tax being paid both by the party paying alimony and the party receiving it. The better conditions of work for casual social assistants would benefit even the senior citizens they worked with, through increased motivation.
Mrs D'Amato called for a regulatory framework to be set up for childcare centres, primarily for the benefit of the children themselves. It was indicative that the vote for child protection services was being more than tripled in this budget. This was certainly not undermining the family or children's rights.
The Sedqa agency was being further helped in its preventative efforts with more funds.
Another important step would be the collating of statistics from the various agencies so that more meaningful policies could be formed.
Dr Francis Agius (PN) said one very important section set up by the government was the one which guarded against the abuse of social services. More than 10,000 beneficiaries had been investigated and found to have under declared their means.
In spite of the national and international economic woes, the government was investing in the country's needs, while the opposition was engaging in a misinformation campaign by manipulating statistics. What the opposition did not point out was that social services in EU countries were higher than the Maltese average wage.
Dr Agius complimented the government for the way it had cut down on bureaucracy and thus made social services more easily accessible.
The real partnerships were those being forged by the present government with the various agencies and voluntary organisations that were continually striving to help the underprivileged.
Dr Jason Azzopardi (PN) said the opposition speakers in the morning sitting had not found the courage to comment on the recently enacted Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Industrial Relations Act, which had given so many rights to workers. Neither had any proper reference been made to the valuable work of the Employment Training Corporation and the setting up of the vocational college. Also notably absent in the opposition's remarks was any reference to the Gender Equality Act .
Dr Azzopardi observed that between 1998 and this year, more than 5,500 new jobs had been created, unemployment had dropped by 800 and the ETC trained 15,000 people. The public service was trimmed by natural wastage.
This government had allocated more than Lm2 million to the ETC to develop schemes for those who wanted to work.
The government had turned the economy around from the stagnation of the Labour government years. An UNCTAD report had shown that over the past year Malta was fifth in a list of foreign investment among 140 countries.
Between 1999 and 2001, average income had increased by Lm18 a week. Under Labour, the increase was only of Lm7.
Investment in manufacturing reached Lm150 million between 1999 and 2001, compared to Lm48 million under Labour.
This was a government which had proved its social commitment by creating the economic and social conditions to ensure that all people enjoyed a better standard of living.
In the past four years this government breathed new life into the country and was giving it the tools to grab the opportunities which came its way as it embraced EU membership.
Dr Jean Pierre Farrugia (PN) said one of the most welcome budget measures was that it had revised the ceilings for eligibility to various social benefits so that many people who had lost their eligibility would now regain it.
Dr Farrugia highlighted the work done by the Housing Authority and underlined the government's employment record. He said, however, that there wide regional variations in the educational preparation of young people for employment in areas such as the services sector.
The number of persons registering for work as machine operators or for elementary occupations varied from 14 per cent in Attard to 37 per cent in Valletta. Indeed this problem started from primary school, with higher truancy rates in the harbour areas.
Social Policy Minister Lawrence Gonzi said the opposition's criticism had been so weak, it could be seen as an endorsement of the government's policies. The opposition had not said anything on workers' health and safety, industrial relations, women's affairs, child centres and the Appogg agency, which gave specialised services for the weakest members of society such as battered wives and abused children. The agency now had four times as many social workers as under the Labour government and had seen its budget double.
Neither had the opposition said anything about sedqa, the agency against drug and alcohol abuse, the initiatives taken to back voluntary organisations, the increased emphasis on workers' training by the ETC, vocational qualifications, supported living and cooperatives. A significant development was that former Maltacom workers who had set up their own cooperative had now decided to resign from Maltacom for good and they were making more money through the cooperative. Other cooperatives had been set up for social work and market services.
All he could say to the opposition was "thank you for your certificate," Dr Gonzi said.
Reacting to some of the opposition's remarks, Dr Gonzi said that social spending by the Labour government was Lm160 million. For next year it would be Lm194 million, an increase of 21 per cent. So how could anyone argue that the welfare state was being dismantled? The government had strengthened the welfare state so that it could create the welfare society in partnership with voluntary organisations.
In 1998 the Labour government allocated Lm400,000 to voluntary organisations, this government was allocating Lm800,000 in cash as well as properties.
Turning to the cost of living index for pensioners, Dr Gonzi said that pensioners were being given the full increase according to that index, calculated on the spending of pensioners. Had that index not been introduced, the value of pensions would be eroded. Had this index been introduced at the time of the Labour government, pensions would already be Lm36 higher per year. The government was committed to further improving this new index.
Turning to criticism on the children's allowance, Dr Gonzi said the government had not restricted access to this benefit, but had actually widened it. The number of eligible people was falling naturally for demographic reasons. Indeed, the figure had dropped by 3,400 under the Labour government. In 1996 the PN government raised the allowance but subjected eligibility to a means test. As a result, although the number of beneficiaries dropped, expenditure to those most in need had increased.
In terms of the budget measure, families having three children or more would be given a higher allowance because their needs were obviously higher.
Referring to the labour sector, Dr Gonzi said that unemployment in 1998 was 7,400 and now there were 6,771 registering for work.
Under the present government, private sector employment had grown by 5,500 while the public sector had been reduced by 2,500. The gainfully occupied had dropped because of early retirement schemes. Half of the 800 dockyard workers who had taken up the schemes had retired. Three quarters of those who opted to register for work had found employment.
Dr Gonzi listed initiatives taken for people with disabilities including funding and the provision of properties to non-government organisations. He said a sheltered home would be opened in Marsascala early next year. A service for autistic people would be introduced next year.
Referring to poverty indicators mentioned by Ms Coleiro, Dr Gonzi said the figures still had to be officially published. But they showed that low income people in Malta were the second least taxed people in Europe. Public spending on education as a percentage of GDP was among the highest in Europe. Malta was lagging in the area of lifelong learning because it was still recovering from the Labour years. But under this government there was a higher number of students at the University and MCAST had just been opened.
The survey also showed that social benefits were being well directed to those who were at risk of poverty and their situation was being improved.
Concluding, Dr Gonzi said this was a budget which built on the government's success. If this was a tired government for Opposition leader Alfred Sant, then the Labour Party had policies of the dinosaur era, Dr Gonzi said.
Remarks by opposition spokesmen are being carried separately.