Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1527863
IN a recent public event, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana was interviewed by Herman Grech ahead of the Budget later this month. Referring to state employment, the minister admitted that it must be managed better. He said it had increased over the years and he was looking at the way those who retire are replaced, adding that this could save the country millions of euros. He ex- plained that education and health must be given full priority, but implied that the rest of the pub- lic sector will be reduced. At least government is finally looking at this. Halleluiah! The only thing that the gov- ernment can actually do without raising a big rumpus is to avoid replacing those being pensioned off from public service employ- ment with an equal number of employees. One understands that most employees in education and health have to be replaced when they retire, but it is encouraging to hear that the Finance Minis- ter is seriously looking at the re- duction of the country's financial burden by avoiding unnecessary employment. Looking at the numbers em- ployed in the civil service over the years, one can see that the num- ber was decreasing under PN ad- ministrations and then suddenly ballooned after Joseph Muscat's Labour Party took over the run- ning of the country. The obsession with having (or obtaining) a job with govern- ment was being controlled, only for Labour to open the floodgates and employ more people, most of whom without any real need for them. As the minister said, the only way out of this conundrum is to avoid employing people to re- place those who are pensioned off – except where there is a real need for replacements. Replac- ing the number of messengers employed by the civil service in an age where communication by email is paramount does not make sense. Increasing them is crazier. But giving employment to party supporters – when their service is not required – has resulted in the current situation where the pub- lic service and most state corpo- rations or organisations have an inflated labour force. Labour has managed to get away with it because statistically public sector employees did not increase as a percentage of the total work force, thanks to the impressive increase in private employment through jobs tak- en up by EU nationals and third country nationals (TCN). There is another problem. There were times when the top civil servants were recruited through examinations, and the best brains of the country would compete avidly for such posts. Today, apart from the phe- nomenal increase in youngsters getting a University degree, jobs in the private sector are much better paid. While in the past, the top brains available were attract- ed to join the civil service, the situation has radically changed. The top brains at secondary ed- ucation level now go on to have a formal third level education and most of them subsequently opt for a career in the private sector. Such careers are now more possi- ble and the lure of the top brains to join the civil service does not exist anymore. Government employment pol- icies need to attract more grad- uates while continually reducing the unnecessary employment of people who barely know how to read or write. Our education system still leaves many people behind it and government's employment of such people is not helping to persuade these youngsters (and their parents) to do an effort and move forward in their education prowess. Having said that, I rec- ognise that there are social prob- lems that lead to situations where young people have no future ex- cept to end up with a government job in which they do practically nothing. But civil service employ- ment at the lower levels is not a social service. This problem persists and more efforts at resolving it should be made when these young citizens are still at school going age. It is interesting to note that Clyde Caruana also said that the long-drawn-out restructuring of the new Air Malta – employing one third of the workforce of the previous airline that went bank- rupt – should be concluded by next year. Hopefully, this time around, our national airline will not bow to the politicians and employ people unnecessarily. Commissioner's concern The Commissioner for Chil- dren, Antoinette Vassallo, has expressed concern about the lack of adequate facilities for children who visit their parents/family members at Corradino Correc- tional Facilities (CCF) and has compiled a list of recommenda- tions which will help to improve the facilities available for children to visit prison inmates. The Commissioner for Children visited CCF and held a meeting with the CEO of the Correction- al Services Agency and was in- formed that those inmates who are allowed to leave prison, can have contact visits with their children at a child-friendly prem- ises in Marsa which is run by the NGO Mid-Dlam għad-Dawl. However, this is not always pos- sible and other visits are held at CCF. The Commissioner visited the visiting room at CCF which is not specifically allocated for chil- dren's visits although some visits are being held there. The Commissioner has called for the allocation of child-friend- ly spaces at CCF, in which only families with children are present for the visits. Such spaces should have nappy changing facilities and have toys, books and other items available to enable children to play with their family mem- bers. Moreover, the Commissioner is calling for age-appropriate in- formation to be given to children about the rules and procedures of their visit as well as for the train- ing of professionals and security officials on children's rights. The Commissioner also insist- ed that children with imprisoned parents or family members are entitled to the same rights as all children and said it is her duty to ensure that all children have ac- cess to their parents as enshrined in the United Nations Conven- tion on the Rights of the Child. I think that the Commissioner is to be congratulated for raising this issue. When someone is con- demned to prison, many people react by saying that justice has been done... without even think- ing of the innocent children who would be also suffering the con- sequences. 3 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 13 OCTOBER 2024 OPINION Employment in the civil service micfal45@gmail.com Michael Falzon Finance Minister Clyde Caruana seems to be seriously looking at the reduction of the country's financial burden by avoiding unnecessary employment Today, apart from the phenomenal increase in youngsters getting a University degree, jobs in the private sector are much better paid.