Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said today that the government would continue to attack benefit fraud but its guiding principle was that the innocent should not suffer from the wrongdoing of others.
Speaking at a PN interview activity in Tarxien, Dr Gonzi said actions needed to be preceded by proper study and discussion.
"A single mother means, first and foremost, the mother of a child. Before shooting left, right and centre the first question to be asked is: what will happen to the baby? It is only when that question is answered that one can tackle abuse, including unknown fathers," Dr Gonzi said.
Turning to the reform of primary health care, Dr Gonzi said Malta had a ‘treasure' in its network of family doctors who visited their patients at home. This was an asset which the country needed to build upon by giving such doctors the tools to work better. In so doing, he said, the Malta health service would enjoy a leap of quality in the interests of patients and the community in general.
Turning to the reform of public transport, Dr Gonzi said Malta was required by EU law to offer the bus service for tender, and this tender would be issued shortly. He was confident, he said, that this reform would yield a high quality service to residents and visitors, adding that the governemnt would not forget the current operators, who also had families.
SOCIAL PACT
Dr Gonzi said Malta was weathering the current economic storm better than many other countries, but the storm had not passed yet. Malta, he insisted, needed to become a more competitive investment destination. The social partners should, therefore, take another shot at reaching a social pact, building on the work done five years ago.
He said he, however, expected a genuine commitment from the GWU and the PL to put the country before partisan interests. PL leader Joseph Muscat had spoken of the need for a new political season. This, he said, applied to the GWU and the PL in the interests of national competitiveness and productivity.
He asked why some quarters were ignoring the current increase in the price of oil - currently at the same level as last year. The government, he said, should not respond to this situation alone, but together with all the social partners.
The new social pact, Dr Gonzi said, should put jobs first. Malta needed to be in a position to attract more job-creating investment.
Questioned about the PL decision to hold a demonstration, Dr Gonzi said everyone was free to hold a public demonstration without fear, which was not the case up to some time ago. He did not think, however, that the demonstration would help overcome Malta's problems. Nor would it help bring everyone together to pull at the same rope, which was what Malta needed.
He hoped that in the coming days there would be a constructive talks in the MCESD in the run-up to the Budget in everyone's interest.
The focus of the Budget would be on job creation. Malta had invested heavily in its students and now needed to create the jobs so that it could benefit from this investment. The government also wanted to encourage more women to work. The constant demand of potential investors was for human resources, Dr Gonzi said.
EDUCATION
Dr Gonzi in his address reiterated his commitment to retain students' stipends and to continue to encourage students to study beyond secondary schools. Indeed, the growth rate in this sector was faster than anywhere else in Europe, thanks to the stipends, investment in the University, Mcast, the Junior College and many other institutes, as well as the granting of scholarships.
Dr Gonzi said he was sceptical of the PL policy on stipends in view of comments made by, among others, Edward Scicluna, Evarist Bartolo and, two days ago, Alfred Sant.