The introduction of a paedophile register, proposed two years ago, will have to wait a little longer as the new minister responsible for child welfare gathers his thoughts on the matter.
The proposal had surfaced with some persistence in mid-2006 following a controversy involving the Malta Football Association, which knowingly retained a 79-year-old convicted paedophile as a groundsman at the Pace Grasso ground in Paola - which also doubles as a playing field for a nearby school.
The former Children's Commissioner, Sonia Camilleri, had said then that she would be making proposals on the matter, but the idea seemed to have lost momentum.
Last Saturday, however, the notion of sex offender's register was mentioned in the President's address to Parliament outlining the government's programme for this legislature.
The new Social Policy Minister John Dalli told The Times he was studying the matter but would not go into specific details for the time being. "I am still studying the issue because I believe that this is a delicate matter which merits a proper analysis before any decision is taken. We stand by what we said in the past on the matter but it's just not something that should be done with haste," he said.
Children's Commissioner Carmen Zammit, on the other hand, was contacted repeatedly for her comments in the past days but no response was forthcoming.
The popular call for the register and tougher penalties for sex offenders re-emerged following the recent case of a 37-year-old religion teacher who admitted in court to sending SMS messages with sexual connotations to former students aged between 13 and 14.
The publication of his name was banned by court order, but an infuriated chain message was sent revealing both his identity and some other allegations about abuse of minors.
Back in 2006, the council of children, chaired by Ms Zammit's predecessor, had made a number of recommendations, which included proposals that deal with the employment of convicted paedophiles.
Specifically making reference to the MFA case, former Social Solidarity Minister Dolores Cristina had gone as far as saying that people who knowingly employ someone with a conviction for paedophilia, in a job which could bring them in contact with children, should be made legally liable.
The head of the Foundation for the Social Welfare Services Joe Gerada - who was the man to make the MFA case public - said when contacted yesterday, that he thought there was need for a debate on the review of the whole legislative framework pertaining to children.
"Our position is that there should be a paedophile register, which is kept by the responsible social agency and the police and which would be used to review people who are employed to work with children, but beyond this proposal, I believe it's time we discuss the legislation having to do with children, including the penalties handed down in connection with child abuse."
In fact, a bill, proposing amendments in this sense was moved in Parliament last December, but this also still has to be discussed. Moreover, some of the penalties it contemplates are seen as lenient in some respects.
The bill provides, for instance, for a jail term of between one and three years for sexual interaction with minors. Given the nature of the crime and the long lasting psychological effects it has on the vulnerable victims, such penalties are still too lenient, Mr Gerada said.
Beyond such physical or sexual abuse, however, he insisted that there was a need for a review of issues such as residential care. "I think it goes against the principles of social justice and basic human rights that we, a society which says it places children at the pinnacle of its interests, allows a child to be placed in care as a newborn and left there until he or she is 18."