"It is unacceptable that in 2020 parents do not have the possibility of giving their child a Maltese name and make use of Maltese fonts," Parliamentary Secretary Alex Muscat said on Wednesday.

The issue was first raised on Tuesday by PN MP Ryan Callus, who said that the public registry is still not making use of Maltese fonts, which prevents Maltese parents from giving their children traditional Maltese names, such as Ġorġ.

Callus highlighted that, in 2015 the registry had announced that by 2017 this matter would be addressed. However, this issue still has not been solved.

Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday, Muscat said he agreed Callus' comments, adding such a change would also involve other departments.

He explained that "the system in the public registry already allows for the use of the Maltese font, and instructions have been in place for a long time." He added that the public registrar was already conducting a trial exercise using fictitious birth certificates involving Maltese fonts, "therefore, they were already testing the system." 

"However, birth certificates are not enough, and work is still being carried out as we want to make sure that use of Maltese fonts in Maltese names will be accessible on all types of documentation, included birth certificates, identity cards and passports. I want to make it as simple and easy as possible," Muscat said.