How many times does the European Commission have to warn Malta about the long-term unsustainability of its public finances before the island gets to grips with the required reforms? One report after another have sharply focused on the need for Malta to cut spending on healthcare and social services, but, to all intents and purposes, it would seem that such warnings are bypassing the economic planners altogether, or, if they are not, the issues involved are not being aired well enough for the country to realise the dangers involved if no action is taken at the right time.

According to the latest news coming from Brussels, Malta has now been put in a group of 15 member states "facing the largest sustainability challenges" as their public finances will, in the long term, be "characterised by a very significant age-related expenditure". In these countries, says the European Commission, "the increase in government spending in aging-related categories is likely to be very significant (seven percentage points of GDP or more)" and "immediate reforms in pension and healthcare expenditure are necessary".

The Commission has always been very clear in its warnings to Malta but the government is not acting quick enough to see to the carrying out of the necessary reforms to ensure, in the long term, the sustainability of public finances. What is Malta waiting for before it launches the required reforms? What, exactly, is the size of the problem the island is facing today? To what extent is the situation being discussed by the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development and, even more so, by Parliament's Social Policy Committee? What plans does the government have to tackle the situation? And if plans do exist, when does it intend implementing them? What, exactly, are the opposition's views on the sustainability of the island's social services network as it stands today? More importantly, is it prepared to play ball in efforts to work out reforms meant to correct the situation?

These, and many other questions, need to be answered today. The people deserve to know what is happening. People in many countries taking stiff austerity measures to correct soaring deficits in public finances are protesting in the streets over their governments' mismanagement of financial affairs, or, worse, over profligate spending or, as in the case of Greece, massive disregard to correctness in financial statistics and non-payment, on a wide scale of tax due to the government. These countries are now paying the price for their follies or for lack of foresight or action to correct imbalances at the right time.

All this should serve as a stiff warning to Malta to see how it could launch more reforms to ensure the sustainability of its social welfare system. If it fails to do this now, it would pay the price for its disregard of the warning later and much of the blame for this would be placed on the politicians for failing to put the country before their party in their work. Correction of the situation requires political courage from both political parties to do the right thing. The situation does not call for any patch-work or for illusory ideas but for practical measures that will ensure the system will not break down under its weight. The matter should not be postponed till after the next election. The longer the country takes to tackle the issue, the more difficult it is likely to become.