Minister for Education Dolores Cristina yesterday told Parliament that investment in social security this year had already exceeded €733 million while the sum spent in 2009 on this sector amounted to 14 per cent of the GDP.
She was speaking during the debate in second reading of the Social Security (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to improve the provisions of the Social Security Act by providing for a more equitable manner in which diverse groups of persons may avail themselves of early retirement schemes, the supplementary allowance and the additional bonus.
It also provides for changes to current criteria applicable to persons registered as unemployed to undertake community work and provides for the setting up of a competent authority responsible for state-owned hostels for the care and welfare of persons with disability. In addition, it extends the list of diseases and conditions in respect of which free medical aid may be accorded.
Mrs Cristina said that since the Social Security Act came into force in 1956, the country had set up a comprehensive social security system that provided assistance to several people who faced difficult times. Despite its economic limitations, Malta did what it could to provide social benefits.
She recalled that while other countries reduced their social benefits in the light of present global economic circumstances, Malta kept embracing a system that considered people’s needs.
Meanwhile, she said, one should not only speak of financial assistance but also of services provided.
The various schemes and measures were important tools to assist in social inclusion and to ensure that the most vulnerable were being protected. It was, however, important to ensure that people did not depend on social services. The government strove to promote and encourage persons benefiting from social benefits to take up work.
The social services system had to be flexible and not rigid since it had to cater for new cases and circumstances while new realities had to be addressed. As things stood, the social services department often complained that the law limited their actions.
When creating and revising policies, the directorate had to work hand in hand with the ETC and NGOs.
One of the amendments would remove the current age limit when participating in government schemes. This would encourage more people to be active in society.
The ETC community work scheme, which encouraged people to work instead of registering for employment, had been a success. This involved working 30 hours a week for a wage of up to 75 per cent of the minimum wage.
Global research showed that the unemployed were those mostly at risk of poverty. Those at risk of poverty in Malta amounted to 15 per cent, a figure which would increase to 23 per cent if social benefits were not present.
As the law currently stood, pensions were calculated on the basic pay over the last 10 years of employment. This negatively affected those making use of family-friendly measures such as working reduced hours during their last years of work. The Bill now catered for such cases while still curbing abuse.
More medical conditions which made one eligible for medical benefits were being introduced. Furthermore, a number of amendments were being proposed – one relating to shipyard workers born before January 1, 1962 and who have opted for early retirement.
Their pensions would now be calculated on the most productive three years out of the last 10 before retiring. Another option was to base the pension on the last three years before retirement, Mrs Cristina said.
Sometimes families were not paying the agency Sapport its due portion of benefits after the agency had taken care of disabled relatives. This was only relevant to those living in government homes. It was also a pity that there had been instances when the agency noticed benefits were not actually reaching the proper recipient but were being used for ulterior motives, she said.
She said it was practical to adopt the same model used for elderly persons living in similar government facilities where a portion of these people’s pension went directly to welfare.
The minister would be responsible to appoint the competent entity which would be receiving this portion. In all probability the agency Sapport would be the chosen entity.