Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said that childcare and pensions are linked. 

The Prime Minister said that by helping more people enter work, financing for pensions increases, and childcare contributes towards this goal. He said that mothers utilising childcare on average enter the workforce three months earlier than those who don't.

He was touring a childcare facility in Qormi. Dr Muscat argued that working parents have saved €6,000 through the free childcare service. He called free childcare centres as one of the most successful projects by this government. "We are one of the few countries in the world providing this free service".

He said that the project is paying for itself.

Education Minister Evarist Bartolo spoke of the benefit children receive from attending such facilities. "It is known that the first 1000 days are extremely important for a child's development".

He touched upon the fact that many young children are playing with technology when young, resulting in a lack of social skills.

He stressed the need to do all that is possible to improve the quality of childcare centres in the coming years.