On Thursday, the Prime Minister described the Mater Dei Hospital as another link in the chain of investments the government was making to promote the care and health of people.

Dr Gonzi was speaking at an activity of the Nationalist Party’s pensioners’ association.

He said that Mater Dei was an example of how the government invested the people’s money in the best manner. It had cost Lm250 million, he said, comparing it to a deficit of Lm300 million which he said had been left by Alfred Sant’s government between 1996 and 1998.

Mater Dei had now passed into the government’s hands and they were embarking on the process of transferring services from St Luke’s Hospital. Mater Dei was not the only investment in the health sector, he said, because it was planned to build a facility near St Vincent de Paul home for the elderly that would complement the success of Zammit Clapp Hospital.

The bed stock in the sector would, as a result of this facility, increase by 280. Instead of Zammit Clapp, a hospital with improved services would be built for cancer patients.

Dr Gonzi said the system that would be introduced to enable elderly people to

collect their medication from pharmacies in their area was one way of improving the life of the elderly. A pilot project would be launched soon to introduce the system, he said.

A pre-budget document would be published that would announce several positive initiatives that would confirm that the elderly were a priority on the government’s political agenda.

All this was possible, said the Prime Minister, because the country’s economy was improving. The euro would be strengthening the economy, and making the country more attractive for investment and the creation of jobs.