Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, MLP spokesperson for social solidarity, said the reform being implemented in adult training centres was making things worse, not improving them, affecting not only the employees but even disabled people.

The adult training centres were the day centres for disabled people, she said. There were in all nine such centres, catering for some 500 disabled persons, including some with a severe disability.

Ms Coleiro Preca said these centres had been integrated within the Foundation for Welfare Services and fell under Agenzija Sapport. Although the government voted some Lm2 million a year to the agency, services were deteriorating.

Employees who for years have worked with the disabled at the adult training centres were being bypassed when it came to filling vacancies, under the pretext of employing academically qualified staff. At the same time there were anomalies in the recruitment of new employees, with different contracts being given, so that employees doing the same work had different contracts. Employees were feeling demotivated.

Ms Coleiro Preca said the reforms were also affecting the food for disabled persons, who were being given the same food, irrespective of what conditions they suffered from. Parents were worried because instead of the healthy food which they used to be given, the disabled were now going to get a snack.

Professional staff were also missing. At the Hal Far centre there has been no nurse since July, at the Sta Venera centre the nurse has not been there since May last year.

Ms Coleiro Preca appealed to the National Commission for Persons with a Disability to intervene.