PN promises €650 pension rise and €2,000 ‘grandparent grant’

Pensions will rise by €650 each year under a new PN government and grandparents who care for their grandchild will be handed a €2,000 grant, PN leader Alex Borg said on Monday.

Borg was speaking at a news conference held at the PN headquarters on Monday morning, where he put forward a series of measures he said would help older people manage the rising cost of living.

Foremost among these proposals is a rise in the State pension, which will rise by €650 each year.

People on private pensions, meanwhile, will see their tax rebate rise from the current €750 to €1,000, with the cap on these plans rising from €3,000 to €4,000.

A PN government would also slash the share taken from a person’s pension once they move to a state-run elderly care home, from the current maximum of 70% to 50%, the party said.

Meanwhile, those in private care homes will see their tax credit rise from a cap of €4,500 to €7,000.

PN MP Graham Bencini said a PN government would also increase grants for elderly who choose to continue living in their homes.

People aged between 70 and 74 would receive a €500 grant, while those in older age brackets will also see their grants double as they age.

Those aged between 75 and 79 will receive a grant of €850, effectively doubling the current grant of €425. Meanwhile, older adults over the age of 80 will receive a grant of €1,050, up from the current €525.

Meanwhile, women who gave up work to raise a family will receive an annual grant of €2,000, a measure the party says will impact 3,000 families.

Bencini also reiterated a pledge, made before the campaign kicked off, that all income earned by pensioners up to an amount of €37,000 would remain tax-free. The pledge was first made in the wake of public debate over a similar measure implemented by government which applies specifically to pension income.

€2,000 ‘grandparent grant'

PN MP Paula Mifsud Bonnici said the party would also be introducing a new grant for grandparents who care for toddlers under the age of three.

Grandparents would receive a grant of €2,000 for each child under their care.

Mifsud Bonnici said the system would work in parallel with Malta’s free childcare system, with parents choosing which grandparent would care for their child.

However, Mifsud Bonnici stopped short of confirming whether this meant that children in the care of their grandparents would no longer be eligible for free childcare services when pressed on the matter.

Older adults would also be offered a series of other measures, including a free GP service and medicines delivered to their home for free, to help them navigate their later years.

Mifsud Bonnici also pledged a voluntary two-year training programme to help people transition into retirement as they age. This programme would include advice on financial management, creative activities and digital literacy, she said.

Borg defends inheritance tax pledge

During the press conference, Borg was asked about criticism faced by PN’s pledge to remove inheritance tax, with PL officials over the weekend saying this will ultimately lead to people paying a higher 8% tax when selling the property they inherited.

Borg said the measure is intended to remove “an injustice” which saw heirs paying an inheritance tax as part of the causa mortis declaration.

“We are not removing the causa mortis, all that we are saying is that tax will now be 0%,” Borg said. Once heirs sell a property they inherited, Malta’s capital gains laws would come into effect, he added.

“We are keeping the entire process identical to how it is today, except for removing the tax on the causa mortis. So, in reality, people will be saving money,” he said.

Borg said the party would be funding the measures it has been proposing throughout the campaign through revenue generated across new economic niches, including a new offshore fuel bunkering hub in Hurd’s Bank.

However, Borg stopped short of confirming that PN candidate and engineer Oliver Cini, the public face behind the proposal, was the lead expert behind the project.

“The proposal was drafted by several experts, including Oliver Cini,” Borg said, adding that he would not humour Abela’s “witchhunt” against experts.

Last week, Abela had claimed that the plan had been devised by “Malta’s biggest fuel smuggler,” prompting Borg to present an affidavit stating he had never met a fuel smuggler over the proposal.