'No absolute poverty in Malta'

Parliamentary Secretary for Health Joseph Cassar said in Parliament yesterday that the House was in agreement that there was no absolute poverty in Malta, quite unlike the situation in many other, much larger and richer countries. This was no mean feat for the government, faced with the widespread effects of the international recession.

Winding up a three-sitting debate, he said it was also gratifying to see the way the two sides of the House were largely in agreement on relative poverty. He congratulated the Social Affairs Committee for having been the catalyst for the discussion on a report on more social inclusion measures to combat poverty.

It was true that the plight of certain people in Malta had taken a turn for the worse. It was also a fact that, in spite of everything, the situation in Malta was still much better than in other recent members of the EU.

The government was certainly not happy with the figure of 57,000 people living in relative poverty. The obvious fact that children were an intrinsic part of the family was not so obvious overseas, where children could not always continue to live with their biological families.

Even so, it was unacceptable that 21 per cent of children grew up without the necessary skills to find employment.

Dr Cassar said education was always one of the priorities the government had to look at when tackling relative poverty. Just as families in relative poverty had to decide their priorities, the same could be said of well-to-do individuals or families who still got their priorities wrong, such as when engaging in gambling, drugs or other modern maladies.

Relative poverty could exist not just financially, but also in cases of stigmatised illness, domestic violence and cases where a husband chose not to work so that he could default on paying alimony.

Lawyers or mediators who made recommendations for marriage separations should keep in mind the children of the couple separating, not just the client. Children were the greatest sufferers, even psychologically.

Dr Cassar said the report did not make enough reference to immigrants. It was also relative poverty when people resorted to waylaying an immigrant, beat him up and leave him helpless at the side of a road. The parents of parents with disabled children could be called modern-day saints. A disability was always crippling to family life, but more so when the disability was on young children.

Dr Cassar highly praised the efforts of Appoġġ agency in the several spheres of its work to help with relative poverty in families. Such efforts had earned it an accolade of Best Practice from European quarters.

Referring to opposition speakers' mention of waiting lists for hospital surgery, he said no accusatory finger of blame could be pointed at any particular quarter. But where had the opposition been when the government had tried to think laterally in an effort to get to grips with a very difficult situation?

Concluding, he said the two sides of the House should work together on the many difficult situations facing the health sector, without forgetting the real problems on the way.

Earlier, Education Minister Dolores Cristina said that up to 10 years ago there were no reliable statistics available and it was therefore difficult to compare poverty with present-day statistics. Malta was still at an early age as regards the correct collection of data for statistical purposes, with certain surveys sometimes giving skewed results.

It was ideal to eliminate poverty, but in reality what one could do was to minimise the problem. While the opposition spoke in critical terms, the government had to implement. Mrs Cristina said that the 1996-98 Labour government had failed to address problems which families at risk of poverty faced.

Parliament had to look at the new forms of poverty as a result of new lifestyles brought about by social progress. A larger number of families were living through difficult times, with children being the innocent victims of their parents and guardians, the authorities or the community at large.

Where children were the victims of emotional poverty, no government and no social service could rectify the situation. Were it not for foster carers who were looking after a substantial number of children, these children would have lived in institutions which could never replace the family despite the loving care given.

In its 2008 budget the government had focussed on the family with increases in children's allowances, energy benefits and care of foster children and those with special needs. The report under discussion could not consider these measures because it was based on surveys which were held before.

Referring to single-parent families, Mrs Cristina said it was a dilemma for the government which had to take measures to improve the economic position of vulnerable families while ensuring that children were not used to cash in on social benefits.

As Minister for Social Policy back in 2006, she had set up the Directorate for Benefit Fraud and an inspectorate. This had led to reducing abuses in social services by €10.5m between 2006 and 2008.

The government was giving the best education possible to all children to uproot them out of the poverty culture. She said that often, these children lived in families with a long history of unemployment, where children inherited this lifestyle.

The reform being carried out in the education sector included children who up to now were labelled as failures from an early age. Schools were also verifying core competencies.

At the secondary level, children were given specialised services through counsellors, psychologists and others to focus on their needs. Students would now end compulsory education with a certificate which described the skills they had mastered.

MCAST was also giving students at foundation level skills which offered better work opportunities. Schemes such as nurture groups had been introduced to give children from families in risk of poverty the necessary competencies.

Mrs Cristina said that she too was concerned with problems created by gambling, usury, alcohol, drug abuse and mental health. She was also concerned with parents who could not afford to buy antibiotics for their children, showing that healthcare resources needed to be reformed.

The report by the National Family Commission could form the basis of a national policy on the family. Some of the commission's recommendations formed part of the Social Affairs Committee report. The centre set up by Dr Angela Abela on the family ought to be helped through more funds, but there were numerous researches by university students which could be utilised to better tackle social problems. The government was giving children a voice through the setting up of the office of the Commissioner for Children.

Minister Cristina concluded that there were great and rapid changes in a society marked by conservatism but also a large measure of liberalism. One had to look at the future the country wanted to give to children.

Joseph Falzon (PN) said that for one to talk on relative poverty one must also talk of wealth.

Certain people had mistaken priorities in life, and this must be addressed. People must be prepared for future challenges to make ends meet.

Malta enjoyed so many rights that few talked about obligations towards society. Malta was an advanced state, which in itself created a section of society that lagged behind. Nationalist governments always saw to it that society evolved in such a way that nobody fell by the wayside.

Because of its size, members of Maltese society depended on each other. This was an advantage because it meant that all were working for a common aim.

Mr Falzon said that this underlined the importance of the government's efforts to create employment and the Christian values which the PN held dear. Malta was a model for many other European countries.

The present economic downturn had affected many economies, and Malta was no exception. Credit should be given to the measures which the government had taken to protect jobs.