During the period in which the Ombudsman's report on maladministration in the Corradino Correctional Facility was being conducted, the Ministry for Home Affairs stated that it was taking several actions.

"It was three years of changes and ongoing actions," the ministry said.

The Ministry on Friday commented that the investigation started in 2021 with the intention of focusing on the management of the correctional facility in a period that now goes back over three years. Former Ombudsman Anthony Mifsud decided to conduct the investigation following persistent media reports alleging violations of basic human rights and non-observance of prison regulations within the Corradino Correctional Facility.

The Ombudsman report into the Corradino Correctional Facility found that there was 'systemic maladministration' at the prison while Alexander Dalli was serving as the Director of Prisons from July 2018 to December 2021, when Dalli relinquished his position.

The ministry went over some of the "main initiatives" that it said have been taken in recent years. Those initiatives, it stated, include the establishment of the Office of the Commissioner of Prisoners, the introduction of a care plan for every prisoner who enters the prison, work on three new half-way houses including one to be the first for female prisoners, as well as the strengthening of digital systems utilised in the sector.

It continued that the professional staff, which includes psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers, now amounts to 87 individuals. The ministry said that the medical services offered at the facility have increased, including dentistry, adding that there are four doctors with eleven nurses in each shift.

Among other initiatives, the ministry stated that an educational officer was hired and that the educational centre for prisoners was renovated along with the training centre for officers. It commented that those changes were able to be made because the scourge of drugs in the correctional facility was fought, "as no rehabilitation could be done in a prison that is full of drugs".

The ministry said that these initiatives being done does not mean that there is no more work to be done. It said that it will continue to enact reforms, "including the need to renew the parole law and the introduction of electronic monitoring, which is currently at parliamentary stage".