Alternattiva Demokratika hoped the forthcoming budget will give due importance to the rights of the elderly, pensioners and ageing persons.

Chairman Arnold Cassola emphasised that elderly persons should receive adequate compensation for the increase in cost of living.

He said AD was also insisting that the list of persons waiting to receive tax refunds and other state payments for a long time would receive these as soon as possible, as this was resulting in unnecessary hardships, on vulnerable groups including elderly persons and low income earners.

Michael Briguglio, spokesman for social and economic development, pointed out that Malta had the lowest EU employment rate when it came to workers aged 55 to 64. Maltese sociological research has shown that ageing workers were prone to pessimism and felt disadvantaged in finding employment. So the government should dedicate more resources in the investment of skills and experiences of such workers.

He said Malta's new pension system did not propose to solve problems of inequalities amongst pensioners, given that pensions were based on income received during one's life course. This was rigid and inflexible, resulting in further inequalities for people with non-traditional working patterns such as part-timers.

Women, in particular, found it difficult to balance contributory requirements with the competing demands of family life, childbearing and insecure, part-time work.

AD believed in a more equal pension system, which could have positive multiplier effects on the local economy due to increased spending power for pensioners from lower socio-economic strata.