Prime Minister Robert Abela said Sunday that having third-country nurses to take care of his mother and father meant that his parents have been able to stay at home as they recover from a car accident.
Abela’s parents- former president George Abela and his wife Margaret were involved in a serious car crash in July that saw them suffer grievous injuries. The accident left a 71-year-old woman from Żabbar dead.
Abela was answering questions in a One Radio interview by Malta Daily about overpopulation when he said that having foreign nurses in Malta has meant that his parents can stay at home.
“Let me speak as the son of an elderly couple who had fractures all over their body following a very serious accident. Every day it is Indian nurses who come home to take care of their needs,” he said.
“Without that service, because they lost their mobility and independence for a while, they would have had to stay in hospital or a home for the elderly.”
The prime minister said that Malta’s hospitals and homes for the elderly offer an excellent service but the contribution of foreign medical workers had meant his parents could maintain their independence.
Abela said that even when he visited Dar tal-Providenza, a home for people with disabilities, the majority of care workers were foreigners.
However, Abela said that some industries had too many workers for what Malta needed.
“It is also true that, for example till a few months ago there were more Y-plate drivers than the market needed.”
Abela said that to tackle issues around overpopulation the government was ensuring that only the workers who were needed were invited into Malta via the Labour Migration Policy.
The policy also aimed at having a low turnover of foreign workers, and so ensuring that third-country nationals were accustomed to the country’s way of life stay, instead of being replaced, he said
Abela said that Malta’s long-term economic vision was to promote sectors that bring a lot of value but little strain on the country’s infrastructure.
He said Malta Enterprise was also funding those companies that were “high value added”.
The prime minister pointed out that Maltese workers were taking high-paying jobs that used to be taken up by foreigners.
“Take gaming, for example, an industry with excellent pay and conditions. Five years ago most of the workers were foreigners; now increasingly, those offices are filled by Maltese.”
Abela said the government was deporting foreign nationals who broke the law in Malta, pointing out that 350 have been deported this year.
He said that he did not want to see a narrative developing of Maltese against foreigners.
“Foreigners are needed in the job market. It’s just that we do not need excess in that regard.”