Prime Minister Joseph Muscat this morning admitted that the government could have handled the citizenship programme better but insisted that the scheme, which the government believed in, would attract major talent to Malta.

Speaking during an interview on One Radio this morning, Dr Muscat said that although Parliament had approved the changes to the Citizenship Act for the programme to be introduced, the government still went into discussions with the Opposition because it was not arrogant and was willing to listen.

Dr Muscat said that he believed that an agreement between the two sides could be reached if good will was shown by all and both parties shouldered their responsibilities.

He said it was not acceptable to him, however, for politicians to taint Malta’s image in the foreign media.

Dr Muscat also spoke on irregular migration and insisted that although everything was still on paper, the strategy used by his government in October was bearing fruit and the EU had finally committed itself to a concrete plan of action which included the involvement of Libya.

On the electricity bills, he said that 90 per cent of Maltese families would be benefitting from a reduction of 30, rather than 25 per cent and the energy vouchers would still be given, although the government was seeing how the system could be changed for the reduction to be automatically reflected in bills preventing people from having to queue to get reimbursed.

“We had a clear plan from day one and everyone now accepts the fact that bills will go down,” he said.

He also said that the government was working to remove the discrepancies in rates paid by foreign residents.

The same kind of discrimination also existed in public transport, he noted.

He said he wished for a more holistic plan when it came to public transport and said the government would be considering a number of innovative ideas, including on traffic management.

Turning to the economy, he said that to grow economically, Malta could not depend just on Europe but had to look further afield, as other European countries were also doing.