Minister for Inclusion and the Voluntary Sector Julia Farrugia said that Cabinet has approved a public consultation period for a five-year National Strategy for the Voluntary Sector.

Speaking to The Malta Independent on Sunday, Farrugia said that at the end of this month, the Ministry will be holding a press conference to present this strategy.

Questioned about the dwindling volunteering culture in the country, as well as difficulties NGOs face in recruiting and retaining volunteers, Farrugia said that the Ministry has reached the last phase of the reform on how the government, following consultations with all NGOs, will strengthen the voluntary sector.

"With this reform, we will be doing that extra necessary step, to reduce bureaucracy and award those who are compliant," Farrugia said.

The reform aims to reduce bureaucracy for NGOs, with Farrugia saying that if an NGO has been compliant for three consecutive years, its document submission deadlines will be extended from three to eight months, giving them more flexibility.

Farrugia said that there will also be an interdisciplinary body comprised of different entities to prevent fragmentation.

She said that she has given an overview of this model to one of the largest NGOs in Malta, Ghaqda Kazini tal-Baned, and said that they were pleased with it.

"This does not mean a free-for-all situation, as we have an international benchmark for transparency (to follow), but we want to award those NGOs who have been efficient in how they report their compliance," Farrugia said.

On funding, Farrugia said that the government must continue investing, and spoke of a new government scheme which will address more NGOs in localities which have been excluded from European funding.

Farrugia stated that the Ministry has completed 1,791 projects, with a budget of €13,072,000.

She said that most NGOs play a big part in the lives of hundreds of families in the country, through sports, religion and other various interests.

Farrugia said that the government has recently distributed €1m to different NGOs in the community, to run different projects in the next year.

Magisterial inquiry reform should have been introduced long ago

Farrugia defended the government's fast-tracked magisterial inquiry reform, arguing that unfounded accusations should not jeopardise lives.

Asked if the government could have listened and discussed more before bringing the law to Parliament, Farrugia said that had this question been made to people who became victims of different situations in the past years, they would ask why this had not been introduced long ago.

The government is pushing through a reform that will make it harder for citizens to get a magistrate to accept a request for an inquiry. Citizens now need to first go to the police with their complaint, and then to a judge six months later if the police make no progress. They must also produce evidence, which is admissible in court, without having the necessary resources to obtain such proof, and also run the risk of having to pay for the costs. While the government sees this as a way to curb abuse and cut down on what it says are frivolous requests, detractors accused the government of wanting to limit the possibility that requests for magisterial inquiries are submitted.

Farrugia said the intentions are to reduce abuse. "We must prevent abuse of legal resources while ensuring genuine cases receive attention," Farrugia said.

She continued that the "majority of the public" does understand that one cannot simply accuse a person of alleged wrongdoing, leading to their employment hanging by a thread, sometimes even suspensions, and their families shattered because of unfounded accusations.

"There is the need for seriousness in this country; one cannot wake up one morning and decide to waste the country's important resources such as the Courts and the Police, and then, after a period of time, the person making the accusation withdraws and says it was a mistake," Farrugia said.

She said that such situations have happened, mentioning Cabinet secretary Ryan Spagnol, among various persons in public life, who have been negatively affected.

"The law is there to be discussed, we listen to different views in parliamentary debates, but at the end of the day, decisions must be taken, and whoever is serious can agree that something must be done to prevent future abuse," Farrugia said.

Pressed on whether the government should have done a consultation exercise before rushing the bill to Parliament, while the protection of disability reform is being put more on the back burner, Farrugia disagreed, and said that there was enough discussion in Parliament. A vote on the second reading was taken last Wednesday, with the government voting in favour and the Opposition against.

She said that the government is also listening to opinions by those working in the legal sector, and they have also said that this reform should have been implemented long ago.

Accountability depends on direct involvement, Farrugia says on Byron Camilleri's resignation offer

Farrugia was also part of the Cabinet that endorsed Prime Minister Robert Abela's decision not to accept Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri's offer of resignation after 200kg of cannabis resin were stolen from an army base last month.

On Camilleri's resignation offer and whether he should have been held accountable under such circumstances, Farrugia said Camilleri did the best thing he could have possibly done by offering his resignation.

"An offer of resignation is the most responsible act. It is the Prime Minister's decision on whether to accept it; that is his prerogative," Farrugia said.

Asked if Camilleri should have just resigned, as former Minister Chris Fearne had done last year, Farrugia maintained that an offer of resignation can be accepted or rejected.

She stressed that accountability depends on direct involvement and the context of the issue.

"If an issue arises under my Ministry but is beyond my control, should I resign? The context matters," Farrugia said, adding that had the minister been the one to order something to happen, or was negligent, then inarguably, their place should be away from politics.

Farrugia said she believed Camilleri did the best he could possibly do in offering his resignation, which showed humility.

She mentioned a past case where a politician himself signed off on the release of one of the most prominent drug traffickers in the country at the time.

"It is the different measurement we apply to cases over time. Back then, there were no offers of resignations," Farrugia said.

She also recounted a case where she was informed of a person who choked while eating and had died in hospital shortly after.

"Should I have resigned that day? It is a question we need to ask ourselves; whether we could have done anything different. Did I do something to directly cause that accident? No," Farrugia reasoned.

Still, Farrugia said that she felt that the maximum had to be done to take action in these different circumstances, such as the authorities and the inquiring magistrate being asked to investigate.

Farrugia said that when she received the report by the magistrate, she was pleased to note that the magistrate had recommended the same thing she had - which is to instal cameras in common and feeding areas of homes to facilitate individual monitoring. Last week, security cameras started being installed in centres all around the island, she said.