Equality and illegal immigration on next year's agenda - Muscat

The promotion of equality will be particularly high on the government’s agenda for 2015, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said.

Speaking during an exchange of New Year’s greetings with President Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, Muscat said the time has come to take “courageous” steps to ensure that women have a greater role to play in policy-making.

Referring to a Budget-announced decision to enforce a law that 2% of the workforce of companies employing over 20 people must be composed of people with a disability, Muscat said that disabled people have been excluded from the mainstream workforce.

“Children with disabilities have successfully been mainstreamed within the education system, but unfortunately that mainstreaming finishes in schools,” Muscat said. “Our challenge is to open the job market up to disabled people. However, this requires a change in mentality from employers, policy-makers and families alike.”

Referring to irregular immigration, Muscat called for a proper open discussion, free from hypocrisy, about how "illegal immigration" should best be tackled.

President warns of tying social aid solely to work

Referring to Budget-announced schemes that tie the application for social benefits with the application for vocational training, the President warned Muscat that not everybody is capable of working.

“While people suffering from mental illnesses or fibromyalgia may appear to be normal, in reality they are suffering and cannot work,” Coleiro Preca said.

She also called on Muscat and his government to do more to protect the environment and to ensure that Malta’s economic growth is shared amongst people living in poverty.

“While I’m pleased to see that unemployment has decreased, the working poor and precarious employment are still with us,” the President said. “The gap between the very wealthy and the very poor is constantly growing around the world. I believe that Malta can be a model for the world, and hopefully the recently-launched national strategic plan against poverty will bear fruit.”