Parliamentary Secretary Justyne Caruana said this year’s Budget presented a complete revolution in the sphere of people with disability, doing away with the prospect of losing their pension if they chose to work.
Furthermore, employers would benefit from a NI exemption and a tax credit of €4,500 for every person with a disability they employ.
This government was also encouraging their employment by allocating €500,000 for 80 disabled persons in Gozo to work on document scanning.
Under the Sheltered Employment Project, 130 persons with a disability received training. The government saved the Community Inclusive Scheme, which had no planning or funds.
This Budget saw a record allocation to the disability sector, including the largest-ever allocation to Aġenzija Sapport, and allocations to residential homes and day centres in Malta and Gozo and to a fostering project for persons with a disability.
Day care centres should be places to be active
Dr Caruana said the elderly were far from absent in this Budget. Day care centres should not be simply places to eat, drink and play bingo.
The idea was to make these an opportunity to learn and be active, and this was to be introduced in various centres.
In Vittoriosa it would use the Auberge d’Angleterre, which would have a gym and various learning initiatives spread over two floors. Various other projects were in the early stages or under way across the island.
There was extensive consultation on the standards in homes for the elderly and services such as Telecare had been upgraded. The Respite Service had been tripled to reduce waiting lists. The Meals on Wheels allocation was nine times last year’s, in order to tackle the waiting list and offer quality food.
The running of St Vincent de Paule was completely autonomous and two new wards would open in March, as well as another one in December 2015. These would all be dementia-friendly.
The St Vincent de Paule kitchen had suffered years of neglect, with mice and cockroaches running under the floor tiles.
Dr Caruana said she had been forced to outsource the meals but kept to the same menu. The process to get planning permission for a new kitchen was under way.