For some uninformed people, the parliamentary debate that follows the Budget speech every year is mere drudgery. Yeah, they say, ministers will talk about their portfolios and the positive impact from the Budget proposals, shadow ministers will downplay all that, they vote, even joke about the proposal for a symbolical reduction in each minister’s salary and, hey presto, the majority wins and we all go back to our seats.

The reality cannot be any more different. Debating the Budget, dissecting its projections and discussing the way forward during the year ahead of us are highly essential in a democracy that prides itself in free and frank debate inside the country’s highest institution. Backed by an enterprising media, the whole package is scrutinised and examined for it to be delivered to a tax-paying population that deserves no less. More so in our case when we know we represent a nation with a conscience, a people highly aware of the social justice platform that was established over many decades by previous Labour administrations.

It was with these thoughts in mind that I spoke in the House last Wednesday about the 2022 Budget and how it will have a massive bearing on the lives of all Maltese and Gozitan citizens, with particular reference, in the very spirit of my portfolio, to those who need our support and assistance to ensure social inclusion, equality and a better quality of life. Based on the cradle-to-grave philosophy of an evolving modern welfare state, Budget 2022 sets goals that will go a long way towards cementing the achievements of the past eight years and actually honing the country’s social system in a way that leaves no more gaps and eradicates the striking anomalies of the past.

Indeed, not only is the 2022 Budget one that profusely reflects the nation’s social conscience but, perhaps even more significant, its commitment to the Maltese disability sector is the biggest ever in our parliamentary history. Suffice to say the Robert Abela government is directly allocating a total of €50,590,000 to the sector alone, an €8m increase from the previous year. In real terms, this boils down to an investment in persons with a disability of no less than €4m every month.

It is with a sense of pride that I convey this government’s message and pledge to implement its targets aimed at a better quality of life for all but with an accent on where it is needed most within our society, the disability sector in particular. Our steadfastness to the principles and responsibilities attached to our reassembled ministry a year ago has seen us working closely with all stakeholders in the sector as the only way to reflect their needs, hopes and aspirations in the Budget for next year. As a result, we have been able to identify them, to tackle them and to act on them as Budget 2022 amply shows.

Assuring a better quality of life for persons with a disability is a process that has to start from the earliest phase possible, including the moment when parents are told about their offspring’s disability and which is also why investing in early intervention and Occupational Therapy is a primary Budget objective.

Budget measures to help consolidate the disability sector are many and varied, too many to highlight in this restricted space, but a reference to some will give readers a better understanding of why discussing and approving the Budget in Parliament is a highly relevant process, an essential exercise at turning the ambitions and visions of an Administration into black-and-white, de facto actions.

As from next year, children with a disability will receive a weekly €5 increase in their benefits, carers (many of them parents) will receive a €300 increase in their allowance and persons with a severe disability will no longer need to submit to a means test to receive theirs. Add these to the extension of various ancillary services and further investment in education with the introduction of more autism units and Braille machines at schools as well as increased support to persons with a disability rightly seeking to study past the post-secondary stage.

There is no missing the trend emerging from this Budget – a disabled person’s independence through such measures as the opening of a community hub in the north of the Island, susbsidised rates and exemptions for the acquisition of special vehicles and their training. The same goes for the labour market, which this year included 4,000 persons with a disability. Reducing further the financial burden on persons with a disability, already the lowest within the European Union, will entail the continuation of the INK project that offers paid training and working oppportunities and direct aid to employers who take on persons with a disability.

The New Hope Guarantee, which sees government warranting the process of getting persons with medical and disability issues to become homeowners like the rest of us is another jewel in the Budget 2022 crown, while the opening of more community centres will make sure persons with a disability remain attached to their social environment, as will the increased investment in existing ones.

Here we have just scratched the surface of what is a massive injection into the disability sector, where I cherish the relentless support of the Commission for the Rights of Persons with a Disability and Aġenzija Sapport. We look ahead with confidence, fully aware that we have the backing of the vast majority of people who make up this nation with a conscience.

Julia Farrugia Portelli is Minister for Inclusion and Social Wellbeing