Apology due for attack on single parents

Joe Fenech

Sep 29th 2009, 23:57

A parent has the right to be single but the other parent needs to pay his dues.

Also, if money is needed - collect it from the VAT fraudsters, companies, etc.

J Martinelli

Sep 29th 2009, 22:19

@ Galea L

Open your mind a crack and save on the salt!

Graham Crocker

Sep 29th 2009, 22:04

U morru ixxejru, its the selfish single mothers who abused the system and broke it for others (such as rape victims) who truly needed it that need to apologize.

Claire Busuttil

Sep 29th 2009, 18:57

The minister`s duty is to also protect from abuse us tax payers......he does not need to apologize for this one, since it is true that there is a lot of abuse in this country.

E. Azzopardi

Sep 29th 2009, 17:14

Rubbish! Does the minister have to apologize for doing his job and for not letting certain citizens pull his and the taxpayers' legs? The country cannot afford this.
The vast majority of the citizens are behind the minister in this. He is definitely right and above all correct.

J Martinelli

Sep 29th 2009, 15:00

@ Franco Farrugia

Not unless there is a valid reason to.

Not when words are wrongly interpreted and purposely twisted to serve a political purpose.

Not when the Minister himself had stated that the money saved from cutting abuses 'will better serve those who genuinely need assistance'. I wonder in Mr. Farrugia's mind who 'the deserving others' are?

So, one has to be a Maltese taxpayer in order to distinguish between fair comments and those motivated by political opportunism?

Joseph Calleja

Sep 29th 2009, 14:40

@Alfred Vella, Żminijietna - Voice of the Left, Valletta. I do not believe anybody has to apologize to anybody. When all you have to say is , I don't know who the father is, and you get a free ride and the innocent tax payer is paying your way, then yes the government has to make it his business to find out who the father is, or No free ride. Stop blaming pregnancies on ignorance, and if you really believe that, why don't you appeal to women's associations and others who work in favor of equality and social justice to help introduce sex education in schools and educate kids about using anti abortion methods. Ever hear of birth control? You cannot stop sex but you can stop unwanted pregnancies. I don't know who the father is syndrome, has to stop and so does the free ride. By the way everybody is entitled to his/her opinion, even if he/she is not a Maltese TAX PAYER. We need a solution, not an apology.

Galea. L

Sep 29th 2009, 14:33

J Martinelli
EVERYTHING is related Martinelli because everything is being done under your beloved Gonzi.
Why don't you come and live here instead of far-away Canada so that maybe your comments will not continue to be taken with more than a pinch of salt?

Pule' Carmel

Sep 29th 2009, 14:33

Would you please read the comments fired at the mother with two children who parked her car wrongly and got fined as described in a letter below this one, "KIND HEARTED WARDEN", So why two weights and two measures on people who break the law?

Franco Farrugia

Sep 29th 2009, 13:59

All this notwithstanding, I am sure that no Nationalist Minister need to apologise for anything, in the eyes of Mr Martinelli. Pity he isn't a Maltese tax-payer.

J Martinelli

Sep 29th 2009, 13:24

Abuse is abuse and if certain 'single mothers' do it, then one cannot condone their behaviour simply because they are single mothers. I am certain that Tonio Fenech was aiming at those abusers and not the single mothers whose status is the result of their spouse leaving them.
Does the 'Voice of the Left' condone mothers who do not know (or remember) who the father was?

Mr. Vella's comments are biased and he should have at least stuck with the 'single mothers' problem and not work in the VAT issue in the same statement.

The VAT issue is separate and unrelated to the single mothers and if any apologies are necessary, they should come from the perpetrators of the crime within the VAT department and the participating merchants and contractors. Upon given a tip, the Minister ordered a police inquiry which netted results.

No apologies are necessary from Minister Fenech.

Joseph Sciberras

Sep 29th 2009, 12:47

And from who shall we the taxpayers seek an apology for the widespread fraud - €10.5 million of them as reported today?

Anthony Mercieca

Sep 29th 2009, 10:09

I have no doubt of the right intentions and conviction of Mr. Vella and his group to back the weak and needy. However, just qualifying single parents in the category and then defend them without trying to understand all implications of if an abuse occurs other downtrodden are suffering, I believe for objectivity sake lets us establish values and means and than proceed from there. It would not be long in view of prevailing trends that marriage be shunned and most children acknowledged as belonging solely to their mother. Perhaps laws should be enacted that the father of a child has to be identified and also contribute to support the child. For those who are single parents due to real poverty originating from ignorance or environment, they have my full support

Franco Farrugia

Sep 29th 2009, 09:49

Well, it is true that some single mothers are honest and well-meaning. But how do you read a situation where a particular single mother calls the country's top lawyerS for legal assistance? From whence, the money?