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MT 28 January 2018

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Opinion 25 maltatoday SUNDAY 28 JANUARY 2018 as a purely mainstream political phenomenon. Not in Malta, though. In Malta, what passes for 'rightwing' is limited only to extreme examples like Norman Lowell, and to divisive issues like immigration. I have yet to hear a single mainstream political party in this country advocate a mainstream rightwing approach to social services. That is probably because Malta is very emphatically NOT rightwing in this regard. William Harcourt's famous quote - 'We are all socialists now' - is applicable here with astonishing precision: everyone and his dog is a 'Socialist' in Malta, in that everyone believes we should all, by rights, enjoy access to the most generous welfare state possible. Until, of course, it comes to the part about actually paying for it. This is where the Christian side of the argument comes into play. Here I shall have to bite my lip a little: part of me feels strongly compelled to point out the outrageous hypocrisy of people like Edwin Vassallo... who always kicks up such a ruckus as is always kicked about the (remote future possibility) of abortion... but then seems to have nothing to say about the death of a child who's already been born. But that would be to miss the point slightly. One other thing that emerges from this case – and others, too – is that Malta's supposedly generous welfare state is actually apportioned between government agencies, paid for by the State, and Church- run institutions that are (in the main) self-financed. The Dominican Sisters, for instance, run a number of homes for vulnerable children and other social cases: not just the Zabbar one where this tragedy unfolded. To this, of course, we have to add all sorts of other Church- run facilities: shelters for migrants, orphanages and crèches, 'Dar Tal-Providenza', etc. Some government subsidies will no doubt be involved here and there... the State still pays all salaries in all Church schools, for instance. But the bottom line is that most of these facilities rely exclusively on charity for survival. And all of them provide essential services that should, by rights, be provided by the State...and which, indeed, the State claims to provide, but evidently does not. 'Generous social welfare state', my foot. Maltese governments have been collectively shirking their responsibilities towards social welfare in this country for decades: content to simply let the voluntary sector – be it Church or lay – do the government's job for it; only without a government's resources, and at its own expense. Take away all those voluntary institutions, and we all know that Malta's welfare state would instantly collapse under its own weight. And they may well disappear in a not-so-distant future. The Church already struggles to finance its own services and facilities: Mgr Lawrence Grech regularly raises the alarm about lack of funds at Dar Tal-Providenza, for instance. Our answer is to always reach into our pockets and donate generously during mass fund- raising activities. How is it, though, that nobody ever questions why we have to keep such an essential service alive through private donations, when we already pay taxes so that government can provide those services itself ? The question is worth asking for another reason. In the past, it was always argued that Malta couldn't afford to maintain a comprehensive welfare system – for years, we laboured under the threat of excessive deficit procedures, etc – and perforce had to rely on voluntary organisations to supplement the public service. From the outset this was always a dubious excuse... if a country can't afford to provide essential services for the most vulnerable, how on earth can it possibly afford to pay University stipends (to name but one luxurious extravagance that we are only too happy to finance at the expense of much more pressing necessities)? But in contemporary Malta, the same excuse cannot possibly be expected to hold anymore. Hardly a day goes by without government boasting about its dazzling economic achievements... about budget surpluses, unprecedented economic growth, a GDP that is the env y of the Western world... Yet a seven-year-old girl can still end up dying of poverty here... here, in what is now a prosperous country that prides itself so much on the quality (and generosity) of its social welfare state? Perhaps, we should stop boasting about our economic success... and start asking ourselves why so little of this newfound wealth is being spent where it should be spent. Perhaps we should finally put all this newfound money where our mouth is, and start actually living up to the 'generous social welfare' myth we have created about ourselves. After all, for arguably the first time in our history, we can afford to... Perhaps, we should stop boasting about our economic success... and start asking ourselves why so little of this newfound wealth is being spent where it should be spent If you are looking to purchase your first boat or upgrade to the boat of your dreams, a BOV Personal Loan is the perfect solution. Talk to us today - we can help you get behind the helm in no time. boat loans BOV CONSUMER FINANCE Free life cover on all personal loans 2131 2020 I bov.com Issued by Bank of Valletta p.l.c., 58, Triq San Żakkarija, Il-Belt Valletta VLT 1130 * Offer valid until 30th June 2018 and may close earlier at the Bank's discretion. All personal loans are subject to normal bank lending criteria and final approval from your BOV branch. 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