Opposition spokesman on the self-employed Gavin Gulia told Parliament on Tuesday that the Budget had not adequately addressed the problems brought about by the recession, which had already impacted heavily on families and businesses.

Speaking during the debate in second reading of the Budgetary Measures Implementation Bill, Dr Gulia said the increase in the services tariffs had expunged any benefit that one could have expected from the measures introduced in the Budget.

Government-induced costs had already affected exports well before the effects of the economic recession, which had exacerbated the difficulties faced by Maltese businesses.

The local market and internal consumption must also be addressed and helped. This sector provided considerable employment opportunities, yet small businesses and the self-employed were being badly hit by lack of structures.

The provision of micro and tax credits had already been proposed by the government in previous Budgets but had never been implemented. Services tariffs had increased by 50 per cent for small businesses and the self-employed, and the micro credit and tax credit schemes could not offset the burdens imposed by such tariffs.

Parliamentary Secretary Clyde Puli said the government had allocated funds for sports in spite of the global crisis. Still, there was the need to invest in sports facilities in localities.

Last year, Malta had attracted more sport tourism when 22 sport associations organised 35 activities and managed to get 22,000 bed-nights. This had injected €1.1 million into the Maltese economy.

This year the sport sector would be allocated €300,000, but the government should also explore public-private partnerships as these could increase sports facility levels.

Mr Puli said that there was a master plan for the Marsa sporting facility, where several outdoor sports were practised. The horse racetrack should be improved so that it would be able to host polo matches, thus attracting more sport tourism. If this project were to be tackled through public-private partnerships, there could be a sports village that would benefit Maltese sportsmen while also benefiting the economy.

In indirect financing, the government provided sports societies with employees, land and flights. It had also provided 900 days of leave for its employees who had to compete abroad.

Labour MP Roderick Galdes said the government had rendered the Budget irrelevant and deceitful because its decisions to increase taxes had been taken elsewhere when it had the duty to safeguard families' interests. Maltese families had less purchasing power.

Unskilled workers were often exploited and they would suffer greatly with the new utility bills. Small businesses had to close down because of the harsher tariffs. Medium and minimum wage earners could not afford to adopt the alternative energy schemes because, despite government subsidies, these were still costly.

The property and construction sectors had experienced the worst business in the last 20 years. The opposition had requested a review of the capital gains tax, but the changes made by government had been minimal.

Referring to the withdrawal of the €6 million subvention to Mepa, Mr Galdes claimed development permit fees would treble, in many cases rising to €18,000. The government had also failed to address the public housing shortage.

The government was arrogant and incompetent and the Budget did not address people's problems.

Silvio Parnis (PL) said the Budget had hit the consumer badly because the government lacked a social conscience. Had the government really established a system of sound finances, it would have been possible for the government to provide relief for consumers.

He warned that although the opposition's motion for the revocation of the utility tariffs had been defeated, the opposition would continue to protect the consumer.

Michael Farrugia (PL) said the Inland Revenue Department had failed to honour its pledge to refund overcharged income tax. The same held for people who had had their land expropriated by Nationalist governments.

While the government had boasted that it had given compensation to make good for increases in the cost of living, it had not widened the tax bands and children's allowance bands, among others. As a result, certain people had lost certain social benefits.

The Bill was approved after a division.