Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said today that he never discussed resignation with Parliamentary Secretary Franco Mercieca.

Speaking on TVAM, Dr Muscat said Mr Mercieca was one of the most genuine persons he knew. His concern for his patients was real. Their talks, he said, were about balancing his concern for his patients and his work in the political field.

Politically, he said, Mr Mercieca was also doing good work. He was forging a closer alliance between the government and the National Commission for Persons with Disability, he was working on community services for people with disabilities, the setting up of facilities for persons with disability once their parents passed away and he was also rectifying the situation at St Vincent de Paul. 

Questioned on how Mr Mercieca had continued to perform operations which were not within his exclusive professional specialisation, Dr Muscat said Mr Mercieca had had a list of patients before the election which he could not simply discard.

Mr Mercieca would henceforth perform operations only at Mater Dei and Gozo Hospital.

In a statement this afternoon, the Nationalist Party called on both Dr Muscat and Mr Mercieca to shoulder political responsibility.

REOPENING ST LUKE'S HOSPITAL WARDS NOT A PREFERRED OPTION

On the health sector, Dr Muscat said changes could not happen overnight and the people were still not being served as they should. The problems in this sector were more serious than the Labour Party had thought.

The first change was that the problems were being acknowledged. This was the first phase, which was crisis management, which was being followed by long-term planning. The priorities were the Casualty Department, out of stock medicines and service at health centres, which had to become mini Mater Deis which people would go to instead of hospital.

He was resisting calls from some quarters to reopen wards at St Luke's because he feared that Malta could end up with two general hospitals, which would not be ideal. 

GOZO LINKS

On Gozo, he said a fast catamaran service between Gozo and Valletta would speed up travel and ease road traffic.

With regard to air links, all options were being considered, including a fixed wing service where an aircraft could land on a concrete runway and taxi on grass.

The tunnel option remained under consideration but there were problems of costs, geology and the entry and exit points. In this context, the possibility of a bridge was also under study and an announcement on a feasibility study would be made in the next couple of days.

A referendum among Gozitans may be held once feasibility studies were completed.

Replying to questions on public finance, Dr Muscat said the government had convinced the EU that it had clear plans for the economy and therefore the Commission did not impose spending cuts.

Among its plans, the government intended to introduce new childcare facilities to help more women to work, and it was taking initiatives to boost various sectors of tourism, such as the maritime sector and tourism, the global residence programme and other revenue-generating activities which would be announced shortly.

THE LAW COURTS

On the appointment of new members to the Bench, Dr Muscat said the Chief Justice had told the parliamentary secretary for justice that vacancies needed to be filled. The government could not wait to the end of the year, when the justice reform commission completed its work, for this to be done.

He said the government had commissioned a report by the Management Efficiency Unit on the average time it took for a court case to be decided and how long it would take to clear the backlog if no new cases were filed. The results were terrifying. 

Clearly, the current situation was currently untenable.

NEW HOURS FOR PARLIAMENT

On the new Parliament, Dr Muscat said the new building at City Gate was built as a parliament and could only be used as such. Since the office block was too small, what was being actively considered was that ministers who had offices in Valletta would not have offices in the new building, although they could book rooms there for meetings, ensuring there would be better utilisation of space.

The new building, he said, could have an exhibition hall featuring items from the various museums of Valletta in what could be a sort of interactive map of Valletta.

The government was also considering changes to the time when Parliament met. 5 to 8.30pm might be a more family-friendly option that 6 to 9.30pm, Dr Muscat said.