Government MP Franco Merciec a said that there is a dire need for more positive discrimination to be instilled to help persons with a disability enter the labour force.

Speaking in parliament, he said that persons with a disability want their independence so that they don’t have to rely on family members to go about their lives.

Thanks to our predecessors’ work, he said, persons with a disability can get a good educational background however there is a major concern that only five per cent of such persons are employed, Malta having one of the lowest rates in the EU of disabled people who are employed.

He said the amendments to a 1967 Act on the employment of persons with a disability will drive employers to employ persons with a disability – at least two per cent of the workforce of companies employing 20 or more persons.

He said that in the next three years, around 1,800 jobs would be created for such persons as a result.

PN MP Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici said that he hopes that these amendments will lead to an increase in persons with a disability being employed in the next three years since for this to happen, a lot of investment has to be made in training of such persons beforehand.

PL MP Deborah Schembri said that places of work ideally should be designed for persons who have different disabilities since failure to do this may create barriers for the person who is working in an environment which is not ideal for him or her. She said that this law - which binds employers to employing persons with a disability - has been in place for years but it was hardly being adhered to.