PN MP Robert Cutajar today referred to an interview published in The Malta Independent last week whereby Family Minister Michael Farrugia said that Malta could adopt the same concept as Norway in terms of fostering.

Quoting a Norwegian online magazine, Mr Cutajar told parliament that while the Maltese government is considering adopting the Norwegian model, the article states that the Norwegian legislation is not working as one would have wished.

The online article Mr Cutajar made reference to was published in Science Nordic magazine titled 'Half of all foster kids in Norway have mental disorders'.

He also referred to the fact that the Child Protection Bill has not yet been debated yet, despite the fact that it was presented by then minister Marie Louise Coleiro Preca in early 2014. Mr Cutajar said the government was seeking to debate certain bills in a fast manner but did not feel the need to debate an important bill of this sort. He urged the government to consider starting debating the bill after summer and place it on the top of the agenda.

He also said that it is worrying to note that Dr Ruth Farrugia – who worked so hard on the draft bill – has been sidelined by this government.