Prior to the 2013 general election, the Labour Party presented a long and ambitious list of measures it said it would implement if elected to government. Several of these measures were described as “revolutionary”.

One of them was a pledge to parents of the disabled that they could put their mind at rest that the State would provide residential accommodation for all the disabled who are unable to look after themselves when their parents are no longer around or else are not in a position (ill health or old age) to look after them.

In last year’s budget, the government voted funds for 10 small residences to come on line by the end of this legislature. This year, the Finance Minister announced that one of these residences has been completed and the next, in Gozo, will open soon. At this rate I doubt if all 10 residences will be commissioned before the end of this legislature so I would urge the government to increase the tempo of conversion or construction.

Although I served as a member of the KNPD board for the past two years, I was unable to find out from higher authority how many persons these residences will accommodate.

To my surprise I was informed that the information could not be given to me on grounds of ‘confidentiality’. I cannot for a minute understand how matters concerning the disabled could possibly be politically sensitive but then I suppose that everything in this blessed country of ours is politicised.

If we assume that a small residence will accommodate no more than eight persons, then the planned residences will be providing accommodation for about 80 people. This number does not even account for half a per cent of the disabled population and is thus a very far cry from the “social revolution” that was promised.

Has the time arrived to set up a Commission Against Poverty?

If the government wishes to tackle this matter in a serious way, it first needs to urgently establish the type and severity of each disabled person in order to arrive at an estimate of those who will one day require residential accommodation. Only then will government be able to come good on its promise.

I also suggested that government should increase the disability allowance/benefit which currently stands at about €100 weekly. I don’t think anybody will disagree that persons, who are unable to work because of their disability, cannot be expected to survive on €100 a week.

This is totally unacceptable, even more so when we have one of the best performing economies in Europe.

I proposed that this allowance should be brought up to at least the level of the national minimum wage which is, after all, what government considers to be the barest minimum a person requires to lead a ‘dignified’ life. Unfortunately my appeal seems to have fallen on deaf ears.

I am also concerned that there are some 100,000 persons, a staggering 25% of our population, either in poverty or at risk of poverty. This is indeed a veryworrying statistic that has been creeping up year after year for the past 20 years.

Rather than aiming to be the best in Europe in economic terms, we should perhaps strive to make Malta the country with the lowest percentage of the population at risk of poverty. Now that is surely something that should make us all very proud, whichever side of the political divide we come from.

Has the time arrived to set up a Commission Against Poverty to recommend to government what needs to be done to lift as many persons as possible out of their precarious state?