Increasing the minimum wage would not necessarily address the social problems highlighted by Caritas, the Prime Minister said in his first reaction to a proposal made in connection with a call to redefine poverty.
"Assistance to needy families has to be given through other means," Lawrence Gonzi said yesterday after addressing party supporters at the Nationalist Party club in San Ġwann.
Caritas director Mgr Victor Grech last week called for a redefinition of poverty, insisting that the new water and electricity tariffs and more expensive medicine, gas and rent had pushed those at risk of poverty into poverty. One of the measures he suggested to alleviate the burden was raising the minimum wage.
"Increasing the minimum wage does not necessarily address the different aspects mentioned by Mgr Victor Grech. We have realised that simply sending a cheque to people might not necessarily address the social problems associated with the individual," Dr Gonzi said when asked for his reaction to the proposal.
He had briefly referred to the Caritas findings in his customary Sunday speech to the party faithful, insisting Malta did not fare badly when compared to other EU states.
Without mentioning the Caritas report or Mgr Grech by name, Dr Gonzi acknowledged that, over the past two years, his government might have come across as ignoring the social safety net in order to pursue economic reforms.
"However, these reforms are intended to strengthen the economy and public finances and ensure that education and healthcare would continue to be given free," Dr Gonzi said.
He quoted EU statistics showing Malta ranked among the best in the EU for its social safety net.
The minimum wage ranked the best in the EU when compared to the country's average wage, he added.
Dr Gonzi said the country spent €5 million every day on welfare benefits, housing, education and health.
Drawing on the recently-published economic data, which showed marginal economic growth in the last three months of last year, the Prime Minister said he expected the positive trend to continue in the first quarter of 2010.
While sounding upbeat, he cautioned against over-optimism because "the storm is still around".
Referring to the European Commission's decision last week to drop the case against Malta regarding the extension of development zones,Dr Gonzi insisted this decision confirmed his government's integrity.
He criticised Labour leader Joseph Muscat for not presenting his party's promised report on the Malta Environment and Planning Authority reform and ridiculed Labour's proposal to separate the planning function of the authority from its environmental responsibility.
Reacting to Dr Gonzi's comments, the Labour Party said the Prime Minister "boasted about his government's social conscience" but forgot to mention it was his government that inflicted the highest increase in water and electricity rates in the EU.
On its stand about planning and environment protection, Labour insisted it was backed by environmental groups and the Church's environmental commission.