Gonzi urges Labour to join welfare reform commission

Social Policy Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday reiterated his appeal to the opposition to play a part in the National Commission for Welfare Reform, saying the issue of the welfare gap was a global reality which needed to be dealt with at once.

The Labour Party has chosen to opt out of the commission arguing that it is nothing more than a smokescreen for the government.

But Dr Gonzi accused the opposition of washing its hands of a global problem.

He said the chairman of the commission was working on a report on current and prospective pension financing to gain a better understanding of the welfare gap.

The deputy prime minister was speaking at a news conference to review the government's fourth year, focusing specifically on the sector of the elderly.

He said the government had instituted a "radical change" in the welfare sector.

The government had invested Lm7 million in St Vincent de Paul in the last two years alone.

Other state-run homes for the elderly at Cospicua, Mtarfa, Msida and Floriana had undergone extensive refurbishment and upgrades.

Dr Gonzi said there were over 1,000 people now making use of day centres.

Another Lm250,000 is being spent on three projects which will provide supported residential services for persons with disability.

Dr Gonzi said the Lm1 million lifts installation programme had provided unprecedented mobility for the elderly, some of whom had ended as prisoners in their own homes.

Health Minister Louis Deguara said the government intended to build a large rehabilitation centre at the new Mater Dei Hospital during its final phase.

The government had increased the number of medical consultants in the orthopaedic, ophthalmology and cardiology departments at St Luke's Hospital.

Zammit Clapp Hospital was a success story with more than 1,000 people admitted over the past year.

Parliamentary Secretary Antoine Mifsud Bonnici said that organisations such as the National Council for the Elderly and the University for the Third Age had helped hundreds integrate themselves in society.

Education Minister Louis Galea said it was ironic that the number of senior citizens attending the University for the Third Age was 800 - the number of all the students who attended university back in 1987.