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maltatoday, TUESDAY, 9 MAY 2017 News 9 Labour punches holes in PN's universal free childcare proposal TIM DIACONO THE Nationalist Party's pro- posal to extend free childcare to unemployed parents is un- sustainable, the Labour Party has warned. Education minister Evarist Bartolo told a press confer- ence that the proposal is un- just to working parents who contribute to the economy through their taxes and that it risks re-introducing a mental- ity of reliance on social ben- efits. "The free childcare scheme introduced by this govern- ment was intended to encour- age more people to take up a job, so as to improve their family income and therefore their personal satisfaction," he said. "Our policy was to make it worth it for people to find a job instead of relying on social benefits." He also warned that under the PN proposal the govern- ment would have to double the number of child-carers on its books, from 350 to 700, or allocate more children per child carer to the detriment of the quality of care. "It is already hard for the government to find 350 child carers as it is, let alone if it had to find another 350," he said. He also accused PN leader Simon Busuttil of inventing figures when he said yester- day morning that fewer than 3,000 children currently make use of free childcare. The figure, Bartolo said, is closer to 6,000 children. "Simon Busuttil said yes- terday that the election isn't about proposals, and it would be better if he doesn't come up with any proposals at all rather than bad proposals that threaten to destroy the free childcare scheme," Bartolo charged. Civil liberties minister He- lena Dalli described the PN's proposal as an "anti-family measure", arguing that stay- at-home parents would usual- ly prefer to keep their children at home with them than send them off to a childcare centre. In response to journalists' questions, Dalli also warned that the PN's approval of Josie Muscat as an election candi- date could mean that a PN administration could reverse LGBT rights passed by the current government. "The PN had abstained on civil unions in Parliament but then voted in favour of the gender identity law, which I saw as a sign that it had un- derstood that we were trying to give full rights to every- one," she said. "Josie Muscat had spoken vociferously in public against civil unions, and his approval as a PN can- didate means that there's a danger that a PN government could reverse these rights," she argued. Education minister Evarist Bartolo told a press conference that the proposal is unjust to working parents who contribute to the economy through their taxes and that it risks re-introducing a mentality of reliance on social benefits PN insists stay-at-home parents' children deserve right to free childcare too Therese Comodini Cachia says playschools are not just babysitting centres but places where children can develop socially TIM DIACONO THE Nationalist Party has stood by its proposal to extend free childcare to stay-at-home parents, arguing that children deserve equal opportunities. PN MEP and election candi- date Therese Comodini Cachia said that playschools are not merely "a dumping ground" for pre-school children while their parents are at work, but also provide an environment where children can develop socially. "Families are shrinking, and around 17,000 families have only one child," she said. "These children deserve the chance to enter a learning environment where they can engage with other kids and carers. A child's early years are the best times of their lives and we must invest in every single child." Comodini Cachia argued that Prime Minister Joseph Mus- cat looks at free childcare as "merely a scheme to encourage mothers to find a job, but we think it should be open to all." Comodini Cachia said that Labour's criticism of the PN's proposal is outdated and based on the mindset that house- wives are "too lazy to find a job". She also dismisses the PL's criticism that the proposal will be stymied by a shortage of carers, arguing that a PN ad- ministration will improve car- ers' work conditions so as to promote caring as a career. "Many ex-carers loved their jobs but had to find a new one because of their conditions," she said. MEP denies paying PN strate- gist €28,000 through EU funds Comodini Cachia denied claims by the Labour Party that she paid PN strategist John Zammit some €28,000 last year and said that Zam- mit stopped working at her of- fice in February 2016 and was therefore only paid for the first two months of last year. She refused to confirm how much she paid him for those two months but said that it was far less than €28,000. "If the report were true, it would mean that I had paid Zammit €14,000 per month, which is how much the govern- ment pays Sai Mizzi. I can as- sure you that Zammit earned less than Sai Mizzi," Comodini Cachia said. "I can't under- stand why Joseph Muscat has decided to lie about me in the final weeks before the elec- tion." Labour has claimed that Zammit's monthly salary as PN strategist was paid from funds allocated by the European Par- liament to Comodini Cachia as PN MEP, which would be in breach of EU rules. Comodini Cachia reiterated that her EP expenses have been audited and approved by the European Parliament. Comodini Cachia dismissed the PL's criticism that the childcare proposal will be stymied by a shortage of carers, arguing that a PN administration will improve carers' work conditions so as to promote caring as a career