'Pensions reform requires holistic, sustainable approach' - Scicluna

Finance minister Edward Scicluna said that a pensions reform required a holistic and sustainable approach rather than a merely aesthetic and immediate solution.

At a meeting with the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development (MCESD), held by the pensions strategy group, he said that the meeting would allow stakeholders to make their observations rather than focus solely on ministers' opinions. 

"We need to balance the income for workers and the income for pensioners," he explained. 

He said that if the retirement age of the second pillar were introduced, it would affect workers negatively and that the government wanted to do everything in its power to ensure a mutually beneficial solution to avoid falling into crises such as the one that Greece was currently facing.  

"Whenever pension issues are a concern, they can affect the overall situation of the country," he said. 

He added that there needed to be a connection between minimum wage and minimum pension, stressing the need for balance between all aspects.

"The lobby group is focusing on the pensions of today, but we also need to address the future," he added.

He added that people cannot make sweeping statements about poverty and pensioners - "we need to address the fact that pensioners are sometimes cash poor, but that they could possess other wealth like property." 

Social Dialogue Minister Helena Dalli said that feedback for the proposals made already would be open until the end of the month, to ensure that the process reached as many people as possible.

Family minister Michael Farrugia said that the government was currently listening to the opinions of working groups and other concerned entities. He said that the government would be carrying out appropriate and holistic changes that aimed to be sustainable first and foremost. 

"We will not make the mistakes of the past, and we will look at this issue holistically, by looking at individual issues and understanding how to address matters."

Farrugia added that the final proposals presented to the government would treat realistic experiences rather than "conjecture".