Prime Minister and Labour Party leader Robert Abela has announced a new set of PL proposals relating to families and children, including the provision of free laptops to secondary school students and the extension of the government's free childcare service.

Abela launched a new set of proposals as he addressed the press conference.

On the first part, Abela announced that under a PL government, the service of IVF will be extended to include new services with the most modern technology.

The aim, he said, is to help couples who suffered from miscarriages, couples who ended cycles of IVF which were unsuccessful, and couples who have history of medical complications. 

The law will also be changed in order to extend the possibility of IVF to those who have already had a child through this means so that they can have the opportunity to have another child.

This builds on the promise for IVF medicine to be provided for free, he said.

Abel announced a number of measures specifically directed to children and to families who have children.

Under a new PL government, the children’s allowance will be increased by €90 per year for five years, for a total of €450.

The bonus for the birth of adoption of any child will also be increased by €100 up to €500, and the in-work benefit would increase by €50 every year for four years, meaning a total of €200 per child in total.

Free childcare will also be made available to all children, irrelevant of whether their parents work or not.

A €300 per year tax credit will be provided to families who send their children to extracurricular activities such as sports and other activities.  The tax credit can also be provided in the form of a grant for those who would not qualify for the tax credit.

Free laptops will also be provided to secondary school students and the one tablet per child scheme will be extended to secondary schools as well.

Children will also be able to choose a set of books to build a small library every year, and this will be paid for by the government, Abela said.

These measures related to children will cost €145 million across the legislature.

Abela also announced that €500 per year will be paid to parents whose children continue with their education after the complete their own obligatory education journey, that is, secondary school.  This grant will be paid for up to three years, Abela said.

If the student who continues their education is living away from their parents, they will receive the grant themselves.

You can follow the press conference below, and keep updating this article for updates.