The PN will be voting in favour of embryo testing as part of the government’s amendments to the IVF reform, Opposition Leader Bernard Grech said Sunday, but former PN leader Adrian Delia has expressed different opinions.

Speaking on a phone call interview with NET News on Sunday, Grech spoke about several current issues which the PL government is failing to address.

Grech was asked about the amendments on the IVF law, which is set to be passed in the upcoming last week of parliament. Grech said that the PN has put forward more amendments to the law, which includes the introduction of Polar Body Testing alongside the Preimplantation Genetic Testing for Monogenic Disorders testing, (PGTM) enabling tests to be conducted before the embryo is created. He also said that the protocol for the list of conditions to be tested for must be strengthened so no abuses of the law occur.

Delia, however, has said that genetic tests on embryos would be endangering life.

“To be clear, I declare that I do not agree with testing embryos that could endanger or be fatal to human life,” he wrote on a Facebook post. He said that tests on the unfertilised eggs of a woman (the oocytes) would not endanger life.

Delia said he will be voting according to his conscience when asked if he plans to vote against the reform.

Grech was asked about the project of the American University of Malta’s relocation, which was initially planned at Zonqor in Marsascala and is now planned to be relocated to a portion of land at Smart City.

Grech said that whilst the Zonqor land should have never been taken from the public, due to the several shortcomings of conditions from Sadeen Group, which proved that the project was a failure from the beginning, the government should not compensate by giving yet another piece of land to the company. Grech questioned the government's intentions with the group and said that the PN would have taken the land back from the company without compensation.

“The government is obliged to strengthen the technology, tools and resources so that these processes can be done, and more couples are able to have children,” Grech said. He added that importance should be given to protect the embryo as much as possible.

Grech was asked about the elderly, as well as the shortage or nurses in care homes. 83-year-old man Karmenu Fino has gone missing from St Vincent de Paul home for the elderly and has not been seen since last Tuesday.

Grech said that the government must take responsibility towards the serious problem of nurse shortages within these homes and in hospitals, as well as the exploitation of such nurses in the work conditions. He said that the Labour government is a ‘management by crisis’ government as it waits for problems to arise and worsen before taking action.

“The government has failed to see to the safety of the elderly, and the government must take responsibility and put a stop to management only by crisis,” Grech said.

Asked about rising property prices, Grech said that the government must find ways to help youth and families to be able to afford buying a home, taking into consideration that property prices have doubled and are no longer sustainable.

Grech said that the high cost of living must also be addressed, as people are having to change their lifestyle to cater to rising prices of essential needs. Grech said that it is unacceptable that the government continues to shift the blame of rising costs on the Covid-19 pandemic, or the war in Ukraine.