Only one in every three applicants were given places in government homes for the elderly, according to figures released for the period between 2013 and the end of September 2017.
Social Welfare Minister Michael Farrugia said in Parliament in response to a question by MP Maria Deguara that there had been 6,512 applications of which only 2,400 were given places.
In separate Parliamentary Questions, he also revealed that the government had secured 127 places for the elderly in Casa Arkati in Mosta as of June 2017 (roughly twice the number it had in 2013); 36 places in Villa San Lawrenz in Gozo (up from zero in 2013); and 93 at Central Home in Mosta – roughly on par with 2013.