The monthly benefits rip-off

Minister Tonio Fenech, during the last Budget speech, rightly stressed that his ministry was investing a large sum to curb the blatant abuse in social service payments.

This abuse is defrauding the honest taxpayer out of millions of hard-earned euros, while inflating the jobless statistics. It was recently stated that employers were finding that candidates sent by the Employment and Training Corporation had not the least urge to work. In short, these people want to stay unemployed.

This behaviour verges on the criminal. They get a hefty sum of money every month for doing nothing. They don’t pay taxes or national insurance; they receive subsidies for rent, electricity and even fuel, full children’s allowances plus other fringe benefits. To add insult to injury many of them work clandestinely.

It is impossible for the authorities not to note a certain pattern in many people receiving these benefits. Some are persons undergoing separation procedures, who stop work of their own accord not to give maintenance support. There is the growing phenomenon of single mothers with “unknown fathers”. I know of women with five offspring all from unknown fathers! This is cruelty towards these innocent children, stealing from them one of the most basic rights of humanity – that of having a parent.

I wonder where they are, all those stalwarts of rights – the right to divorce (sic), of embryos, of criminals, of animals, of gays, etc. They must notice that these children are being hurt twice by our society. They are born outside the security of a family and without a person they can identify with as their father. And all this for the sake of money and irresponsibility. For me this is a crime as for sure the mother knows who the father is.

If there is the slightest doubt there must be mandatory DNA tests and it is the real father, not the state, i.e. the honest taxpayer, who must support his offspring financially.

A simple way to curb this abuse is to make it mandatory for people on social security to work with their local council. They can be of benefit to their community and at least give something back of what they are taking gratis. If they will work say from 7 a.m. till 5 p.m. it will surely curb the abuse of clandestine work.

But I think that social services must be removed from a government ministry run by a politician and start, as in other countries, being run by a non-elected technocrat. This person would not be afraid to lose votes when introducing tough measures. This system is unfortunately so ingrained in the Maltese collective consciousness that it would have to take mammoth efforts to reform it and see that every cent taken from the honest taxpayer is well spent.

Minister Fenech must feel the plight of the honest taxpayer. Does he not feel frustrated when he has to go out every day at dawn, rain or shine, and know that perhaps the guy down the road is cosily tucked into his bed and enjoying a standard of living that may even equal his? Mr Fenech must be firm with his parliamentary colleagues from both sides and not heed any pressure from them when defending their constituents who are trying to exploit the social benefits system.

Politicians must well remember that most of their voters are honest, hard-working taxpayers. A time has come where hard work and honesty once more become the moral core of our society, while laziness and irresponsibility are penalised.