Alternattiva Demokratika chairman Harry Vassallo said AD was pleased the government had included some of its proposals but it was disappointing that various serious problems were ignored.

The maternity leave extension was an AD proposal, he said. But the extension still left Malta as a country with one of the shortest maternity leave periods in Europe. Another AD proposal was to increase the children’s allowance, and it was also positive to introduce incentives for the use of equipment using alternative energy.

But the government had buried its head in the sand and ignored serious problems, such as by not using the power surcharge to offer incentives to people to reduce electricity consumption. This could have been done with different rates of surcharge linked to consumption.

Transport problems had also been ignored, as had the rent laws. The little assistance to couples buying a home did not address the serious problem of high property prices.

Small companies were still going to pay as much tax as the large banks, which monopolised the market. AD had proposed a lowering of the tax rate on small companies to 30 per cent, to encourage more investment, Dr Vassallo said.

On the environment the government’s vision was contradictory. The abattoir incinerator, for instance, was being modernised but it was of concern that non-abattoir waste was going to be incinerated there as well. Just metres away from where animals were being slaughtered for consumption, Dr Vassallo said, there would be infectious waste from hospitals.

Some increases in some sectors needed to be considered further. In health the Lm6 million increase did not even cover the expenditure on medicines.