Housing Authority with €2 million deficit, carcinogenic particles found at SVPR dental clinic

The Housing Authority ended December 2012 with a €2 million deficit, Family Minister Marie Louise Coleiro Preca revealed this evening.

Together with parliamentary secretary Franco Merceica, the minister was taking part in a public consultation meeting organised by the Office of the Prime Minister themed 'a government that listens'.

"I am ready to listen and take all your questions... but please don't ask for an eye appointment," the junior minister quipped.

It was announced the government will be issuing an expression of interest for the provision of 300 beds for residents requiring long-term care.

Coleiro Preca also made a shocking revelation: an audit carried out in the past weeks at SVPR revealed that there were no extractors installed at the residence's clinic. The risk, the minister said, was that airborne particles that were carcinogenetic could be inhaled by the residents of SVPR.

Delving into issues of social housing, Coleiro Preca said the Housing Authority was facing big challenges to address the long waiting list of 2,848 families who were looking for alternative places. "Some of these have been on the list for 15 and 20 years," she said, adding that there were 730 families living in dangerous structures.

Government was committed to address the latter issue before September, Coleiro Preca added.

However the minister also warned that the Housing Authority could find itself in dire financial straits. €2 million deficit aside, the authority already had €5 million which were committed while a separate scheme committed the Authority to €10 million for the coming 10 years.

"We found no planning for these funds," she said.

Fielding questions on residential homes for the elderly, Mercieca announced that the government will be issuing an expression of interest for the provision of 300 beds for long-term care.

The current number stands at 175 beds.

Speaking on St Vincent de Paul Residence, Coleiro Preca took the opportunity to explain that out of 86 transfers given, over 70 of these had been requested by workers themselves.

"We also asked whoever wasn't happy with the transfer to speak out because we want each and every worker to be happy. I can't understand all the fuss raised by the Opposition, especially since it has no basis," she said.

This week in parliament was marked by a heated argument between Coleiro Preca and shadow minister Mario Galea over the transfers, which the PN labeled as "vindictive". The argument led to a ruling by Speaker Michael Frendo requesting the two to withdraw words such as 'vindictive', 'deceitful' and 'incitement'.

Several were the interventions made which delved into the drydocks workers' pension anomaly. The ministers said that the government was clearly aware of the anomalies and a task force will be set up to address these issues.

"Most important of all is to ensure the sustainability and adequacy of pensions," she said, announcing that a strategic group was tasked with dealing with the issue.

The minister also pledged government's commitment in strengthening the disability pension.

An intervention by a person with disability urged the minister "to carry out an earthquake at the National Commission for Persons with Disability (KNPD)".

"We need the KNPD to start thinking outside the box, not keep on proposing one-size-fits-all policies," the speaker said.

Coleiro Preca reassured that the government was thinking outside the box and aspirations of people with special needs will be met.

The minister that as the politician responsible for social solidarity, she was committed in seeing that the Labour government fights precarious work.

"We want to lead by example," she said, accusing the previous administration of "promoting precarious work".

At one point, Merceica expressed his dissatisfaction at a number of services provided for the elderly both in respect of unhappy carers who feel they're being exploited and quality of service which was not being met.

"I am not happy, for example, with the meals on wheels service. The waiting list we have is bigger than the people we're actually servicing while the quality of service provided does not reach satisfactory levels," he said.

Mercieca reassured carers that the services were being reviewed with the aim of strengthening services offered. "It is true that some are using home care services as a means to obtain 'cheap maid service'," he said.