No recommendations have been made to the government by the Commissioner for Older Persons since at least 2022. In this span of nearly five consecutive calendar years, three difference people occupied the role, with the current incumbent Alexander Attard telling the Malta Independent on Sunday that none of the cases closed in these years met the criteria for which recommendations could be issued.

In a parliamentary question submitted by Opposition MP Paula Mifsud Bonnici, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health, Ian Borg was asked to present a list of all recommendations that the Commissioner for Older Persons has made to the government from 2022 to mid-October 2026. She also requested him to state how many of these recommendations are still waiting to be implemented.

In response, Borg said that "no recommendations have been made by the Commissioner for Older Persons" during this entire period.

Between 2022 and now, three people have held this Commissioner post. Mary Vella was appointed in 2019 and stayed on till her successor, Godfrey La Ferla, was appointed in June 2022. La Ferla was Commissioner for a year and a half, until Attard succeeded him in December 2023.

In August 2025, in an interview with The Malta Independent on Sunday, Attard had urged for Malta to stop sidelining elderly people. He stated that Maltese society was failing its older citizens and that despite being a growing demographic, given Malta's ageing population, "elderly persons are too often ignored, underserved, and treated as if they have vanished from public life."

A separate PQ - also submitted by Mifsud Bonnici and answered by Borg - showed that between 2022 and 7 October 2026, 28 official complaints or alleged human rights breaches were made to the Commissioner for Older Persons. 26 of these formal complaints have been handled and their cases have thus been closed, leaving two still pending (as of 7 October 2026).

This newsroom reached out to Commissioner Attard and his Office and asked him why he, for as long as he has been in this role, has not yet issued a single recommendation to help people over 60 years old, as well as what his Office is prioritising to enhance quality of life for older persons across the Maltese islands.

Commissioner Attard responded that none of the 26 cases closed since 2022 met the criteria under which he is permitted to issue a formal recommendation, as stated under Article 17 of the Commissioner for Older Persons Act.

"Each [case] was resolved through the competent entity, mainly the Older Persons Standards Authority and Active Ageing and Community Care," Commissioner Attard said.

According to the Office of the Commissioner for Older Persons' last three annual reports, some of the cases it received related to support for older persons in care homes and their alleged abuse by relatives or carers.

This Office also continues to receive a number of requests asking for advice or guidance on issues relating to this demographic. Several complaints it receives each year do not fall under its remit, according to recent annual reports.

Article 17 of the Commissioner for Older Persons Act states that the Older Persons Commissioner may issue official recommendations in the form of a compliance notice should a person/body be non-compliant to the United Nation's Principles for Older Persons, which was adopted in 1991.

This UN instrument features 18 principles centred around ensuring older persons' independence, participation in society, care, self-fulfilment, and dignity. Examples of these principles include that "older persons should be able to reside at home for as long as possible" and that "older persons should be able to live in dignity and security and be free of exploitation and physical or mental abuse."

Commissioner Attard said that his office "has nonetheless acted directly on pressing issues such as cybercrime, vaccination and extreme heat, including by initiating the national SMS heat warnings in 2025 and 2026." His office's current priority is a "comprehensive, data-based study on the state of older persons in Malta," he said. The Commissioner added that this study is expected to be published "in the coming months and will guide where resources are directed."

In January, the Parliamentary Ombudsman issued a position paper on "Ensuring safe and unobstructed mobility on public pavements and in public places" after this matter was raised to it by the Commissioner for Older Persons. In this position paper, the Parliamentary Ombudsman mentioned how this issue especially affects "vulnerable people, including families with young children, older persons and persons with disabilities."