Updated 4pm

The Nationalist Party has hit out at the withdrawal of the home help service to tens of elderly people and the reduction of the service to others.

Paula Mifsud Bonnici, Shadow Minister for Active Ageing, said in a statement that the elderly were paying the price for government corruption with many having seen their Home Help service abruptly stopped or their weekly hours reduced.

"This government talks a lot about active ageing and the need for community services that enable the elderly to continue living in their own homes. Yet, it is failing to provide the most essential and necessary service for the elderly – the Home Help service," Mifsud Bonnici said. 

She said that the government had admitted in parliament that the service had been stopped for more than 70 elderly individuals and others had their service reduced.

Individuals who applied for this service for the first time have been waiting months to receive it, Mifsud Bonnici said. 

"Robert Abela has enough funds to distribute among his inner circle but not enough to invest further in this indispensable service for our elderly. Robert Abela is stingy with the elderly but generous with those he wants to keep happy and silent," the Nationalist MP said. 

‘Stopped’ help cases are pending appeals board - ministry 

In a statement on Tuesday, the Active Ageing Ministry denied the PN’s statement, saying they are “unfounded accusations” and that the government has never reduced or stopped Home Help services. 

The service is given consistently to every case and the waiting list is tackled through a professional evaluation board to make sure that resources go to those that deserve them, they said. 

The figures cited by the Opposition are not cases where the service has been stopped, the ministry said but causes that are currently pending a review from the appeals board. 

In cases where there is a “revision of services” the ministry added that this is dan based on a professional evaluation to ensure that resources are allocated in a just and transparent way and according to the needs of the applicants. 

The list of cases on appeal is expected to be eliminated completely in the coming weeks, they said. 

The ministry said that the government not only kept these services but strengthened them significantly, increasing the budget for home help to  €3.5 million in 2025.