People are ‘fed up and tired with the propaganda and buzzwords’ – PN MP

People are “fed up and tired with the propaganda and buzzwords” of the present government, PN MP Jerome Caruana Cilia said in Parliament.

He spoke during a debate regarding the spending and income of jobs plus for 2023, and he said that according to Eurostat figures, after 10 years of PL in power Malta has been ranked last when it comes to the increase in pay measures amongst all the Eurozone countries.

“I would make reference to a study, published by the Central Bank of Malta, which states that ‘real compensation per employee’ decreased in every sector, apart from the agriculture sector, and the only increase occurred in the finance and insurance sector,“ said Caruana Cilia.

Caruana Cilia presented information to show the “real state of the nation.”

Caruana Cilia emphasized how he “spends days ‘on the ground’ speaking to people, dealing with these situations with his own hands,” and how “how behind every statistic lies a life, a family, an individual,” he added.

“According to the NSO, in 2022, the rate of material and social deprivation stood at nearly 10%, and the rate of severe material deprivation stood at 5%.”

He also said that more than 25,000 individuals lived in houses that were ‘seriously’ materially deprived, and that this figure grew to almost 50,000 individuals when taking into account the entire tenure of the present government in power.

“In 2022, the NSO study revealed that more than 170,000 individuals were living in households that could not afford to pay for ‘at least’ a single week’s-long holiday in a year,” Caruana Cilia said.

“Further, 80,000 individuals were living in households that had no economic means of dealing with unforeseen expenditures of more than €770,” said Caruana Cilia.

“These figures show a better picture of what is found on the ground. The reality is that the inflation rate has outpaced the increase in income for individuals; this is the reality of life under the Finance Minister’s term.”