A White Paper on rent law reform has been drafted and will be submitted to Cabinet, Solidarity Minister Dolores Cristina told Parliament yesterday.
She also announced during the budget debate that the Benefit Fraud Directorate was this year expected to yield savings of Lm1 million in unlawfully claimed benefits.
The debate was opened by Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, opposition spokesman on solidarity, who said that this budget demolished the principle of equitable distribution of wealth. Whole categories of society had been forgotten in the revision of tax bands, such as the minimum wage earners, many pensioners and those having a part-time job as their primary occupation. As a result these people would continue to live perilously on the poverty line.
The power surcharge had drawn most complaints in the run-up to the budget, yet no proper review was made. There was no denying that international oil prices were extraordinarily high, but many people simply could not shoulder the burden which this surcharge imposed.
Although this budget introduced an energy benefit for 17,000 families, who would be given vouchers to neutralise the impact of the surcharge, this measure was nothing but a sham and an insult to those who believed in social justice. These people should have been included in the exemptions from the surcharge announced last year, but many although deserving, were not even informed of their eligibility. And relief from the surcharge needed to be extended to many more small and lower middle income people and those having people with disabilities in their household. The criteria for eligibility to such schemes also needed to be fair and transparent.
It was also shameful that the maximum supplementary assistance of Lm10.66 per month would rise by only 41c per week for a married couple when the beneficiaries were the most vulnerable of society. Didn't anybody speak up for these people?
Was it a surprise that the publication of the Survey on Incomes and Living Conditions was already two years late?
Turning to those having a part-time job as their primary occupation, the Labour MP said it was good that these people would pay a pro-rata social security contribution, but clearly many doing this work were under-employed because no full-time jobs were available. When would the Department of Industrial Relations assume a pro-active stance to ensure there were no abuses by employers and working conditions were observed?
Mrs Coleiro Preca asked the minister to clarify the budget measure extending by five years the widows' pension to widows and widowers who remarried and earned more than the minimum wage. Would this also apply to those who did not remarry but earned more than the minimum wage?
The pension for people with a severe disabilities was also half-baked. Who would decide when a disability was severe?
This budget said nothing about the need for better transition programmes for people with disabilities who left secondary school but suddenly found no support to start working life. The labour law provisions that two per cent of staff complements should be people with disabilities should also be enforced.
Mrs Coleiro Preca said it was good that Appogg was seeing additional funds, but abused people were still having to live with their tormentors and the shortage of social workers was still acute.
It was also a matter of concern how service users at Sedqa had declined when the drug abuse problem had not eased. Was the minister satisfied with drug abuse prevention programmes?
Karl Chircop (MLP) said most of the positive effects of the movement in the tax bands would be immediately annulled by inflation.
This budget, he said, would widen the gap between the well off and those who had a small income. Under this government the savings ratio of many families had disappeared.
Although the government was easing some of the tax burdens it had imposed, the problems being faced by large families were not being solved. It would have been very beneficial had the government raised children's allowance as a measure to thank families who were courageous enough to have more children. The power surcharge for large families should also have been scaled back. Indeed, energy costs should have a heavier weighting in the retail price index.
With the government acknowledging a problem of falling fertility rates, it should have come up with initiatives to encourage families to have more children, and not the other way round.
In this context, the Lm15,000 budget for the National Family Commission was also inadequate. The commission would be more effective if it was better resourced.
Dr Chircop said that while it was good that persons with a severe disability would retain their allowance for five years after they married someone who did not have a disability, it was very telling that the projected outlay for this pension was not increasing. Therefore, very few people would be benefiting from this measure.
Turning to child care centres, Dr Chircop said that although the government had said it would be promoting this sector, funding did not appear to be on the increase unless funds from the European Social Funds were to be utilised for the purpose.
Touching on NGOs, Dr Chircop suggested that funding allocations should be made known a year in advance to enable such organisations to plan their spending better.
Dr Chircop said the subvention for the Housing Authority had disappeared. The authority, he stressed, needed to place a stronger emphasis on social housing.
Referring to the pensions reform, Dr Chircop said this was not urgent. The exercise conducted by the government was not serious and it had been selective in the adoption of the recommendations of the Pensions Reform Commission. More would be said during the debate in the House, he said.
Helena Dalli (MLP) complained that women's participation rate in the labour force had remained too low. Too few full time jobs for women were being created and the number of female unemployed was rising. The number of women in decision-making posts was also not rising.
Ms Dalli asked why regulations for the licensing of child care centres had still not been issued. Legislation for this sector had been awaited for 10 years but had still not been completed. Child care facilities could be deducted from company profits, but how many employers would actually benefit when such facilities were being registered but not licensed?
Joe Abela (MLP), who spoke on persons with disability, said the reform of Adult Training Centres would be useful, but workers should be consulted and briefed about their future. Indeed, the centres needed to be given better resources.
Mr Abela said the improvement announced to the pension for those having severe disabilities and married was welcome and should help such people integrate in society.
The Labour MP said that while Lm3 million were being spent on a section of St Vincent de Paul Home to house 103 people, more funds were needed to help those who cared for elderly or disabled people in their own homes.
Stefan Buontempo (MLP) said that at the opening of Parliament in 2003 the government promised a review of rent laws and incentives for empty dwellings to be put on the market. Neither had come about. Last year Lm3 million were allocated for the Housing Authority to buy vacant dwellings from private owners yet not even a single purchase had been made so far. This when the government had intended to buy 100 properties - a fraction of the 30,000 vacant dwellings that existed. What had become of the Lm3 million?
And not even one private owner had applied to rent his property under a new Housing Authority scheme.
Concluding, Dr Buontempo asked what had become of the amalgamation of the Housing Authority and the Department of Social Housing said to have been approved six years ago?
The minister, he said, had last year even promised to set up a unit to draw up a national housing policy. Even that had not been set up.
David Agius (PN) said opposition speakers had yet again not taken a position on pension and rent law reform. Helena Dalli said nothing on domestic violence and how Lm10,000 had been allocated to the Commission on Domestic Violence.
Neither had the opposition said anything about the 266 housing units built by the Construction and Maintenance Department, urban renewal projects and the installation of lifts in housing blocks. Mr Agius welcomed the fact that this year over 570 derequisition orders were issued. The Housing Authority had become financially self-sufficient and issued many schemes to help those who needed housing but could not afford it. The authority was building 355 apartments and over 100 maisonettes, most of which would be issued under the shared ownership scheme, which had been well received, with 260 units worth Lm11 million issued earlier this year. It was telling, Mr Agius said, that the opposition never even hinted of corruption or favouritism in this sector.
Nationalist MP Clyde Puli said the record outlay on social benefits showed the government's commitment to solidarity.
The government was doing its best to integrate everyone in society and help those who fell behind.
The Equality Commission had conducted useful research on several areas such as teleworking, sexual harassment and family measures. Recommendations were also made on gender mainstreaming.
Following the last budget, 450 women rejoined the labour sector and this budget was announcing more measures for women to return to work.
Mr Puli called on the government to move legislation to protect the unborn, a subject discussed extensively in the context of ethics and biotechnology by the Social Affairs Committee. It was anomalous, he said, that while the embryo in the womb was protected, that outside was not.
He said it was also his personal view that the national health service should offer free IVF treatment, more so when fertility rates were declining.
Nationalist MP Joe Cassar highlighted work being done by the Sedqa and Appogg agencies including a new service to replace methadone for heroine dependents. This was giving very good results in other countries. Several preventive campaigns had also been launched.
A new project launched this year, the Youth Outreach Programme was aimed at reaching a number of adolescents who had behavioural problems which could be the result of drug and alcohol abuse.
The House was also discussing a Bill banning the consumption or possession of alcohol by those aged under 16.
The ministry's working group on alcohol and minors was also conducting media campaigns against abuse.
Lm24,000 were going towards the National Commission against the abuse of drugs, alcohol and other substances. The commission had achieved its targets. It concluded the second report on the drug situation in Malta and issued a national drug policy. It also launched a study on the use of drugs and alcohol in post-secondary education, which would lead to new preventive and assistance programmes. It also organised training seminars for the drug information network and the early warning network.
Malta had also been instrumental in the setting up of the Mediterranean Drug Network.
Dr Cassar welcomed the setting up of the boards for the psychology and social professions in Malta.
Nationalist MP Michael Gonzi said that although appointed just three years ago, the Children's Commissioner had had a very positive impact, especially in the way children were being given a voice and other areas such as the dangers of the internet for children and social issues.
The government was also working actively in the area of child adoptions, including the preparation of adoptive parents.
On the disabled, Dr Gonzi said that the government had entered a partnership with the church to open Dar Pirotta in Birkirkara. This budget also included financial measures to help persons with disabilities and more funds were being allocated for personalised services for people living in difficult circumstances.
The National Commission for Persons with a Disability had been very successful, improving the standard of living of such persons. Its budget for next year was to be of Lm260,000 - Lm10,000 more than last year.
Next year was the European year for Equal Opportunities. The law should be fine tuned and everyone should assume responsibility and give people with a disability something back, he said.
Winding up the debate, Solidarity Minister Dolores Cristina said solidarity did not just mean social benefits but having a society which helped all not to fall behind. Social policy included the economic, social, education and health sectors.
Mrs Cristina said there were already thousands of families who did not pay tax thanks to earlier measures taken by the Nationalist government. Many more would now not pay tax and others would make savings. Parents of students in private schools were also being given some relief. All these helped ease burdens on families which the government recognised as the central pivot of society. The Family Commission had an important role and its recommendations to the government were useful and would be gradually adopted.
Mrs Cristina said that opposition speakers had been very selective in their remarks. They complained about the cost of electricity, but forgot how the tariffs were actually higher under the Labour government. They also forgot how the price of food items rose by eight per cent.
Mrs Cristina said a reform in social benefits was under way. The Social Security Department had so far revised and simplified the system for invalidity pensions, instilling transparency and removing areas of abuse. The restructuring would continue in other benefits. The department was also heavily involved in the pension reform process apart from its ordinary activities. Accessibility to its area offices had been improved, where that was possible.
A working group was working on a revamp of the complex Social Security Act and it was hoped that proposals would be announced next year.
Mrs Cristina pointed out that this budget was allocating Lm3.3 million under the vouchers scheme for people who deserved help to meet their power bills, That was above the Lm1.2 million already benefiting from assistance announced last year. This scheme would be based on average consumption as calculated by the NSO, so as to discourage excessive consumption. But there would be no capping on consumption by people who had a medical condition.
Turning to the pensions reform, Mrs Cristina said the government was not ignoring the problems of the future and was laying the ground so that they would not cause hardship. Unfortunately the opposition had stayed out of the process. This amounted to shirking of responsibility.
Mrs Cristina said the Benefit Fraud Directorate was on a learning curve but beween January and August the directorate saved Lm870,000 in benefits which would have been paid to people who were not entitled to them. That would rise to Lm1 million by the end of the year.
The Policy Directorate had held many meetings with the Commission on the Abuse of Drugs, Alcohol and Other Substance and issued a draft policy on alcohol abuse, among other initiatives.
The Department of Social Welfare Standards had performed a useful monitoring and regulatory role.
The unit on EU affairs had coordinated activities which had received or applied for EU funding.
Reacting to Dr Buontempo's remarks on the Lm3 million allocated for the purchase of vacant property by the Housing Authority, Mrs Cristina said procedures were slow. Some 40 applications for sale of property had been submitted from private owners for the sale of their propoerty. These were being vetted and discussions were being held with the owners. It was hoped that the first promise of sale agreements would be made shortly.
Dr Buontempo had not said anything about the Lm2 million allocated to help first time buyers. As for renting from the private sector, 14 properties were allocated recently after they were let to the authority for 10 years.
Mrs Cristina said the amalgamation of the Social Housing Department and the Housing Authority had started and various offices were currently being relocated. The legislation to cater for this move had also been prepared.
The minister observed that when he spoke on rent reform, Dr Buontempo again did not explain the opposition's position. This week her ministry had concluded a draft White Paper which was to be submitted to the Cabinet. She said that the government had looked into what other countries - especially Spain and Portugal had done, because their position was the closest to Malta's.
Continuing, she said that Lm130,000 were being allocated to child care centres, of which 40 were currently registered, Parents who sent their children to these centres would be eligible for tax credits. These centres were being gradually upgraded so that legislation would be introduced next year.
Replying to Joe Abela (MLP) Mrs Cristina said the reform of adult training centres had been completed and the workers would continue to enjoy the same working conditions as before. Now services would be improved, including catering.
At the end of her speech Mrs Cristina said her ministry was working to give all children the best possible future and she praised the Commissioner for Children for her work. She also thanked Appogg and Sedqa.
This, she said, was a budget addressed at the people. It did not satisfy all needs but it focused on those most in need and it had therefore been welcomed.