Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/820803
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 7 MAY 2017 4 News Labour proposes 12 changes to pensions schemes PAUL COCKS THE Labour Party's focus on pen- sions in the election campaign was built around the many suc- cesses the current administration had already managed to achieve in the past four years, Prime Minis- ter Joseph Muscat said yesterday. At a press conference in Marsa, Muscat said that his party's plans for pensioners were aimed at en- suring a better standard of living for all and guaranteeing rights and standards that had so far been ignored. "First of all, we are committed to give pensioners the €8 weekly increase established in the agree- ment on the minimum wage rise, and we are aiming to gradually increase the national minimum pension to 60% of the national mean income," he said. Muscat said a Labour govern- ment would also continue build- ing on the reform launched in 2016 which led to the first in- crease in pensions in more than 25 years. "We are also promising to give the full cost of living bonus to all those who became pensioners af- ter 2008," he said. The prime minister said the La- bour Party was also proposing to offer a full pension to widows and widowers who reach pensionable age. In the case of the services pen- sion, the Labour Party is suggest- ing that the computation given up when people choose to take a lump sum be totally ignored when social security benefits are calcu- lated. "And in the case of members of the police force, the armed forces and civil protection, we will make it possible for them to have their pensions calculated on their high- est current income, and no longer on their pay while serving in any of the three," Muscat said. He said that the Labour Party was also proposing to pay the in- validity pension in full to persons certified to be suffering from ter- minal diseases. Muscat said his party was committed to introducing legal amendments to ensure that per- sons who go through a separation or divorce – or whose cohabita- tion comes to an end – receive full pension benefits even if they would have left the workplace to look after the family. "One important proposal we are putting forward and which is bound to affect more women than men is our recommendation that people who have more than one part-time job, and who do not work full-time, be able to pay national insurance on more than one part-time job, for a maximum of 40 hours work per week," he said. This, he added, would be of great benefit to the workers when they reach pensionable age as well as help to curb abuse. Muscat said a Labour govern- ment would also continue to offer incentives on savings and private pensions. "In this context, we will double the contribution to €2,000, there- fore increasing the maximum tax credit to €300," he said. Pensioners under 65 years of age who remain self-employed will have the rate of their social secu- rity contributions reduced to one based pro rata instead of a full flat rate. "And finally," Muscat said, "we will continue to ensure that no tax is paid on any pension up to €13,000." In the case of the corps pen- sions, the prime minister said that applications had been published on 2 May – to run until 9 June – and will also be open to descend- ants of past beneficiaries. The groups to benefit from these schemes include: former corps members working within government departments before 1979; former stevedores who were licensed to work between 4 April, 1973 and 1 June, 2007; constables, sergeants and sergeant majors within the Police Corps who had not been paid for overtime work carried out between 1 January, 1993 and 31 December, 2009; and former workers of the Malta Elec- tricity Board. PAUL COCKS PRIME Minister Joseph Muscat had lied throughout his short- lived legislature and was continu- ing to do so even during the elec- tion campaign, the deputy leader of the Nationalist Party said yes- terday. Beppe Fenech Adami, address- ing a press conference in front of the prime minister's office at Cas- tille, said that Joseph Muscat's lies were most evident in his repeated attempts to protect and cover for his chief of staff, Keith Schembri, and minister Konrad Mizzi. "This web of lies and corrup- tion, centred around these three, is what led to the government's downfall and this early, snap elec- tion," he said. Fenech Adami said that the cur- rent administration – as well as the Labour Party and its media – had chosen to attack and try to discredit a whistleblower who had come forward to say that she had seen evidence linking secret Pana- ma company Egrant to the prime minister's wife, Michelle. "They concentrated a lot of ef- fort in a bid to discredit her, in yet another example of how these people are willing to lie to protect themselves and their interests," he said. The PN deputy leader referred to news revealed in The Malta Independent, which claimed that the Financial Investigations and Analysis Unit (FIAU) had – more than a year ago – concluded an investigation into Pilatus Bank, which it deemed to not have ad- hered to established standards with regard to the logging and safekeeping of financial transac- tion records. The FIAU report was allegedly passed on to the po- lice for further investigation. "That same news article revealed that the FIAU had also uncovered a €1 million transaction involving the Pilatus Bank account of a po- litically-exposed person," he said. "I am fully confident that the people have had enough and that they are fully aware of how far these people are willing to go to protect themselves." 'Muscat's lies led to government's downfall and early elections' Joseph Muscat: ensuring a better standard of living for pensioners Beppe Fenech Adami sees web of lies and corruption at Castille