The Coeliac Association Malta said today that while the 50% increase in product vouchers was positive it was still not enough.

“Coeliac Association Malta notes that in the financial estimates for 2016 announced by Minister of Finance on Monday in the Budget Speech, coeliacs who had been receiving vouchers totaling €30 a month ever since the Voucher System was introduced in February 2015, will see that amount increase by 50% to €45.

Whilst this increase vindicates the Association's long standing claims that the value in vouchers given to coeliacs was meagre and insufficient to cover the substantially high costs of gluten free food that coeliacs have no option but to buy on a regular basis, the Association feels obliged to emphasize that the increase is but a minute addition to what coeliacs require.

Coeliac Association Malta wishes to remind the coeliac community that the Government introduced the voucher system with unnecessary haste and without the necessary funding. As a result, the Government's unilateral decision and continued disregard to the Association's recommendations, brought about sharp cuts in the value of entitlements.  In money terms, coeliacs who were entitled to request gluten free food items valued in excess of € 105 before the voucher system was introduced, all of a sudden had to make do with €30. 

Taking the above into account, whilst the Association welcomes the improvement announced in the Budget, it categorically stated that this is simply not enough and needs to be increased much more to avoid putting coeliacs in unwarranted financial difficulties.”