On September 28, a government consultation meeting on a national strategy for ageing was held in St Paul’s Bay. Parliamentary Secretary for the Elderly Justine Caruana addressed the audience, where she said: “Tell us what you want.”

Further on, during the same meeting, the senior manager within the Active Ageing Department pointed out that elderly people faced a number of challenges, including acquiring a stable income.

I asked the parliamentary secretary to help find a solution regarding inadequate pensions.

The purchasing power of elderly people is being eroded at a fast rate and is one of the main reasons why thousands of pensioners are poor or at risk of poverty. If the current trend persists and no action is taken to address the problem, then poverty will increase further.

In view of the above, the Pensioners’ Association’s proposals for the Budget, namely a guaranteed national minimum pension, the indexation of pensions and a maximum pensionable income, should be considered.