The €400 million being spent on subsidies is taking away from investment in areas including renewable energy, public transport and healthcare, ADPD-The Green Party said, adding that energy support should protect basic consumption rather than subsidise excessive use.

Reacting to comments made by the Finance Minister on Wednesday morning where he announced the Pre-Budget document for 2027, ADPD said his position on subsidies failed to take the full picture into account.

"The government has more options available to it than an "all-or-nothing" approach," the party said in a statement.

ADPD Chairperson Sandra Gauci said the party had followed the Finance Minister's comments on the government's energy subsidy policy, arguing that he had presented two alternatives: either maintaining subsidies as proposed by the government or having no subsidies at all.

"In our view, the government is wrong to consider only these two alternatives. As ADPD, we have always spoken about the need for electricity subsidies, but these should be designed to protect basic consumption, rather than subsidising all consumption," Gauci said.

"Subsidies should not apply to excessive consumption. The government's across-the-board subsidy applies equally to those who consume recklessly and to those who consume responsibly."

ADPD Deputy Chairperson Carmel Cacopardo said electricity subsidies, both residential and commercial, should be designed in a way that discourages waste.

"This would not be possible under the system proposed by the government," he said.

Cacopardo said there were also practical alternatives to fuel subsidies, arguing that better organisation of public transport would encourage more people to move away from private cars and consequently reduce the need for petrol and diesel subsidies.

"Blanket subsidies for everyone, every industry and every business, mean that people on low and middle incomes, small businesses, those who moderate their consumption and those who make choices to reduce their consumption are effectively subsidising, through their taxes, those who waste and those who can afford to pay," he said.

Cacopardo said that the €400 million being spent on subsidies was taking money away from investment in other areas.

"The truth is that the €400 million in subsidies is eating into investment in important areas such as renewable energy, public transport and even healthcare, among others," he said.

"More subsidies for those who can afford to pay mean that low wages remain stagnant, fewer modern medicines are available to those who cannot afford them, collective agreements are allowed to expire, and public services remain under immense pressure."