Former minister alleges abuse of parliamentary privilege

Nationalist MP Ċensu Galea yesterday said that during the last legislature certain MPs had abused their right to parliamentary privilege. Reciprocal respect was not in any way a sign of weakness because respecting one's opponents was a clear indication that one could rise above party politics.

Mr Galea was speaking in Parliament during the debate on the motion thanking the President for his speech highlighting the government's administrative programme.

He called on the Speaker to investigate the parliamentary privilege and how this could be better utilised.

He also referred to the Speaker's call to MPs on Monday to refresh their memory on the Standing Orders and suggested it would be better if MPs were sent a copy because many needed to do more than refresh their memories.

Turning to sustainable development, Mr Galea said that if Mepa really wanted to serve its role, it had to see that there was consistency in its decisions.

The time had come for some of the cruise liners arriving in Malta to berth in St Paul's Bay for the benefit of businesses in the area. This had always been resisted, but he believed this was due to the drop in income that businesses in the Grand Harbour area would experience. This was not a good enough reason.

Mr Galea said that a different funding formula should be used for councils which experience an influx of temporary residents during the summer months.

Continuing his speech from the previous day's sitting, Mr Frederick Azzopardi (PN) said that Malta had reached its status as the best country in the Mediterranean insofar as ICT was concerned. Investment had come from all continents but mainly from EU member states. Maltese youth had taken up the challenge to learn and excel in the sector. In e-government, Malta was the second most advanced country in the EU.

Because it acknowledged that education had become of paramount importance to increase the value-added content of human resources, the government was investing in all its sectors, from kindergarten to university. It was providing high-quality teaching so that by 2015 Malta would become a centre of excellence in Europe.

Turning to tourism, Mr Azzopardi said that following the upgrading of Mġarr Harbour, it was now the turn of the Ċirkewwa end to be developed.

Concluding, he said that the government had to continue building on the sound basis that it had started. It was determined to succeed.

Labour MP Marlene Pullicino said that the government must provide adequate training for workers in the health, tourism and construction services. In today's world, Malta must have an active workforce.

She praised non-government organisations, like the Boys Scouts and Girl Guides, who continue giving important lifeskills to schoolchildren.

She said that hospital waiting lists, especially for cataract and knee replacements operations, were too long and one must look into the possibility of bringing over foreign surgeons. If it was the lack of beds that was the problem, then the government should get these from private hospitals.

The long waiting times at the emergency section could be contained if there was cooperation between the general practitioners and the hospital administration.

She said that environmental legislation should be observed and development outside development zones not considered. She referred to the proposed development near Villa Bologna at Attard, Ta' Ċenċ and Ħondoq ir-Rummien in Gozo as cases in point.

Dr Justyne Caruana (MLP) said that the catching phrase of this legislature was to work together. In order to succeed, the government must respect the opposition. Things had changed and only a few hundred votes divided the two main parties at the end, but government action had already shown that it was contradicting itself.

The President's speech contained some things which were proposed by the MLP in its electoral manifesto and others which the PN had suggested for years on end. The present government was a continuation of the last one and not a completely new one.

Dr Caruana welcomed the restructuring of the Ministry of Education and augured that this would yield better results. Malta's human resources had to be trained so that Malta could reach the Lisbon targets.

Most young people were concerned about the lack of employment. Some were even exploited.

Uncertainty because of unstable employment was affecting family life. It was good that the government had its own targets for creating jobs, but if anything was to be done about it, it must be done now.

Gozo had fallen behind in the creation of jobs and the government should think about a Smart Gozo on the same basis as Smart Malta and high-quality tourism.

Even the suspension of the housing equity sharing scheme was creating tension between couples and between families.

Dr Caruana also spoke on Labour's proposal in sports and culture, saying that the PN had taken a leaf or two from the Labour manifesto.

Turning to health, she said that it was inhuman for sick people to be sent to Malta even for a simple medical test. The environmental project for Gozo was a good thing but development projects at Ħondoq ir-Rummien, Ramla l-Ħamra and Mġarr ix-Xini had again raised their heads.

Nationalist MP Philip Mifsud said that sustainable development was the main aim of the government's programme, creating a balance among economic, social and environmental development.

The government had promised to put the environment at the heart of its policy. It wanted to use a third of the funds coming from the EU to improve the environment in all its aspects.

Mr Mifsud said Mepa could never be popular because it was a regulator. Its reform should concentrate on increasing consistency and transparency. It should be committed to planning better use of the country's spaces.

Referring to the revision of the rent laws, he said many tenants were exploiting the situation, and owners who had been robbed for years should at long last enjoy justice. He proposed the prohibition of rental transfers in a bid to solve the situation.

Mr Mifsud spoke on the importance of agriculture and of attracting young people to the sector. Farmers should be given title to the land they were currently leasing.

He also spoke on local councils which, he said, were overall doing a great job. But there were councils which were facing problems such as that of Mtarfa, where residents were being asked to vote again for their council next Saturday, after this had been dissolved.

The root of the problem was lack of preparation by those contesting the council elections. It was the responsibility of political parties to give at least a basic political formation to their council candidates.

Mr Mifsud said people were fed up with an annual election, and this was increasing political scepticism. He welcomed the government's decision to open up discussions on whether the current system should be changed. He proposed the lengthening of the council term to four instead of three years and having two instead of three groups, with an election being held every two years.

Labour MP Anthony Zammit likened the government's strategy, represented by the President's speech, to a bikini, promising a lot but hiding the essentials. The government had made a lot of electoral promises, such as the equity scheme, but had then gone back on its word by withdrawing it. Whoever had acted fast had taken advantage, but others would have to wait for the promised restructuring of the scheme.

Prof. Zammit said the education sector, so much vaunted by the government, was not best served by building new schools and refurbishing others, but by achieving better results. Too many youngsters left school almost illiterate, but then could do wonders in front of a computer. This meant that the potential was there, so the problem lay somewhere in the system.

Part of the problem could very well lie in broken families, which were increasing in number because values had gone down the drain. But broken families were not attributable to women joining the labour market. Prof. Zammit said he favoured flexi-hours and job sharing, in which two workers could work part-time and decide on splitting the job between themselves, so long as the job got done. In this way both kept up to date with developments and were ready to go back to working full time when their family circumstances permitted.

Preventive medicine was an area which the government would have to introduce eventually. But things would have to be done apolitically, not as in the case of breast screening when the call for applications only lacked a picture of the preferred candidate. This was a man who would normally retire within a year, but whose contract was to be renewed.

The government should reconsider the possibility of not literally going back to polyclinics but a system of mini-clinics with new features thrown in, such as endoscopy. This would effectively reduce the waiting lists that were being so talked about.

The government was targeting an increase of 25,000 jobs in the next five years - a laudable target, so long as numbers were not based on part-time jobs which did not give job security. Job seekers should be enticed to look not for the easy jobs, but for those which could see them on the road of self-development.

Concluding, Prof. Zammit said employers should keep in mind that they and their workers were mutually dependent.

Justice and Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici said Prof. Zammit's speech had shown the kind of ideas that the House needed more of. This was the way that MPs could give the nation a much better and greater service, with a greater sense of national unity.

Dr George Vella had called for debates to include topics on which votes would be practically unnecessary. This sort of attitude should help for more salutary debates and greater progress, collaboration and dialogue. Turning to family affairs, Dr Mifsud Bonnici said family values should be safeguarded at all costs, just as the rights of unwed cohabiting persons should also be safeguarded. The exploitation of Malta's membership of the EU had shown that Malta could make huge progress, but much more could yet be achieved. Malta was an equal partner in a bloc that was very important not only to Europe itself but also to the world at large.

In the area of personal security, the government's intention to set up a DNA centre and a register of persons guilty of sexual crimes would continue to enhance people's peace of mind. So would the continued strengthening of the police corps.

The final paragraphs of the President's speech reflected the government's serious intention to do everything possible to bring about national unity. This would give the country the dimension that it so richly deserved.

Labour MP Silvio Parnis said that in spite of the nice talk about respect being used by the government, it had totally ignored the opposition when it came to enrolling Malta into the Partnership for Peace programme.

On the increase in the cost of living, he said that while the international situation had to be acknowledged, action had to be taken locally. One must investigate why prices in Malta were rising at a higher rate than in other countries in the eurozone.

He hoped that after the government discussed the matter with the social partners it would come up with clear ideas. The government, he said, had already announced that the energy surcharge would be increased next month. The government should inform the social partners exactly what was being done beforehand.

The price of oil was reaching record levels and this put on the government the responsibility to take action on alternative sources of energy, especially the wind, sun and sea. The government should aim for at least 10 per cent of its energy to come from renewable sources.

Mr Parnis said that complaints on Mater Dei Hospital were on the increase. Unions were worried that the move from St Luke's to Mater Dei was going to be just a change of address, and if this was the case it would be a great disappointment to many.

He said that the cost of medicine was also on constant increase, so accessibility of medicine to the elderly should be improved.

Mr Parnis said that the international situation was no excuse for the government not to implement its promises. Everyone, including the government, knew what the situation was before the election.

Education Minister Dolores Cristina said that the government had an ambitious plan intended not just to promote growth but also to emphasise the development of each and every person.

There had to be a reform in all levels of education, but the development of Malta into a centre of quality services depended on how the country managed to strengthen its higher educational services.

The colleges system, she said, had to be developed in a full manner. Colleges had to be supported by programmes and facilities. The agreement between the government and the MUT also had to be implemented and educational programmes had to continue being improved. Resources for students with special needs had to be continuously improved.

On the difficult behaviour of certain students, she said that more support services should be created. One had to see exactly what these students needed even on an individual basis, because it was crucial to motivate them to get the most out of them.

Following a plan which had been drawn up during the last legislature, a discussion was to be held soon to decide what direction the country's education should take after age 11. An effective assessment service had to be developed and the Matsec system had to expand and offer a wider certification basis.

Ms Cristina said that, in her opinion, streaming went against democracy and did not lead one to achieve self-esteem and self-confidence. There had to be a lot more motivation even at secondary level. There had to be a system which credited students and which offered parents support. More students had to continue with post-secondary and tertiary education. There had to be financial support for students to continue with their studies, improve quality and standards of educational institutions, and see Malta develop into a centre of excellence in education.

Mrs Cristina said that great successes had been achieved by the university.

The country had to invest in a new campus for Mcast. The ITS had to have the necessary resources for training and a campus for the Naxxar Higher Secondary had to be developed. There were many challenges, but success could be achieved.

The country also had to invest in culture. This was important for tourism and for the Maltese identity. Children should have cultural experiences from a young age because only this would make them natural guardians of their cultural heritage.

European studies showed that culture was to have the greatest economic expansion in the coming years. On the country's cultural policy, Mrs Cristina said that culture had to be accessible. Its growth had to be promoted. The government wanted to work with non-governmental organisations and invest in the country's heritage, which it had a duty to safeguard.

It also had to look at the integration of the cultures surrounding the country and learn to appreciate them better. In 2018 Malta was to share, together with The Netherlands, the European Capital of Culture. It had to start working on this immediately.

She said that the state should have digital broadcasting by 2010. And the EU directive on audiovisual media had to be transposed into local legislation by the end of next year. Ms Cristina said that the most important matter was the update of the national broadcasting policy.

The government was determined to look at what affected young people in a holistic manner. It was to continue offering young people opportunities. Sports promoted positive values not just for the individual but also for society, she said.

Nationalist MP Stephen Spiteri said that it was important for the country to understand the pressures the international economy was under. This was bringing about challenges which were dominating the discussions in all international fora.

He remained in possession.