The introduction of a nominal fee on medicines currently distributed by the government free of charge, the immediate raising of the age limit for alcohol consumption to 18 and a substantial increase of tax on tobacco and alcohol are among the suggestions put forward by the Church’s Peace and Justice Commission yesterday.

The commission was presenting its reflections on the social aspects of the government’s pre-budget document, auguring that the principal objective of the document this year, “Together for a sustainable future” would integrate with the reflections on the previous budget, which were those of contributing towards the sustainability of sound families, built upon an indissoluble marriage between a man and a woman.

The commission went on to make its recommendations, including some made last year “and which were either not considered or not considered to the extent recommended. In doing so, the commission seeks to delve further into these issues and relate them to what is being recommended in this year’s government pre-budget document”.

Main recommendations include:

The child allowance for children who are disabled, should be raised to double the standard allowance.

An additional allowance in the form of a bonus should be paid in December. If the economic situation does not yet permit such a payment, this additional bonus should be given to children who suffer from a disability.

The government should consider introducing a paternity leave quota to encourage male spouses to shoulder part of the burden of raising children while the female spouse carries on with her career. The paternity leave quota would form part of the paternal leave and would be lost, if not availed of.

The parental leave should be increased to 17 weeks for the second child and 21 weeks for the third child. The additional weeks will compensate for the longer time it takes to settle with additional children.

The fiscal benefit available to those parents who send their children to kindergartens or private schools, should be increased gradually over a definite period, until the entire fee is allowed as a deduction against income for tax purposes.

The fiscal benefit available to residents in a private residential home for senior citizens, should be increased gradually over a definite period, until the entire fee is allowed as a deduction against income for tax purposes.

Those persons who work less than eight hours a week, should pay a nominal contribution towards social security. The same contribution will be paid by their employer and benefits will be pro-rated to the payment.

A process should be initiated for the revision of the minimum wage, over a period of not more than three years, to an amount which will guarantee a modest standard of living. Persons in receipt of a minimum wage are living below the poverty line and are therefore considered vulnerable.

Persons in receipt of a service pension should be entitled to receive the social security pension in full. If the government aims to achieve this situation, the period within which this happens should be defined. The non-eligibility to a full social security pension for persons in receipt of a service pension is a social injustice.

Interest paid on loans for purchasing the first residence should be fully deductible against income for tax purposes. This benefit should be capped on a specific loan amount.

The government should carry out an evaluation that will determine the special needs of Church schools for the employment of facilitators with children with special needs, counsellors and social workers, educational psychologists, career advisors, activity teachers, health and safety teachers, computer technicians and relief teachers. The cost thereof should be borne by Government.

The age limit for the consumption of alcohol should be immediately raised to 18 years with a plan for this to be extended to 21 years within three years.

The tax on alcoholic beverages should be increased substantially as a disincentive to drinking.

The tax on tobacco and tobacco products should be increased substantially as a disincentive to smoking.

Remedial action should be taken to reduce the long waiting lists in the government hospitals. The government should outsource surgery to private hospitals as part of remedial action.

A nominal fee should be introduced on medicines currently distributed by the government free of charge. Furthermore, a pro-forma invoice should be issued with medicines highlighting the cost to the government and the benefit being received by the beneficiary.

The government should charge fees for hospitalisation in government hospitals to all those who subscribe to a private health insurance. Again, a pro-forma invoice should be issued to users of government hospitals.

The commission welcomes every initiative taken to create productive work with the right conditions of employment and/or returns and recommends concrete action to create employment for dockyard workers who will be made redundant as well as for those who have been unemployed for a number of years and also for those over the age of 45, now even more with the pensionable age going up to 65 years.

Whereas the commission agrees with the government’s aim of balancing the budget by the year 2010, it suggests that in the light of a volatile economic situation at a national and international level, this should not be achieved at the expense of lowering the standard of living of the average family which is already combating the increased costs of food and other essential services.

The commission said its full document in Maltese is available on its website www.maltadiocese.org.