Speaker seeks MPs’ views on childcare services in parliament

Childcare services in parliament are back on the agenda after Speaker Carmelo Abela wrote to MPs seeking their views on the introduction of such facilities.

The issue was raised in parliament by Labour MP Ramona Attard, who thanked the Speaker for the initiative and voiced her full support.

Attard noted that, on the same day, several MPs had brought their children to parliament because they had nowhere else to take them.

She proposed setting up a room in the building where children could draw, watch television, or do their homework, along with a separate room for babies who require closer supervision.

“This isn’t just about mothers, it’s about fathers too,” Attard said. “Let’s make parliament more functional for everyone.”

Taking to Facebook on Tuesday, Delia said he had appealed to Abela to provide such a service following his first speech of the legislature, and praised him for taking the initiative to send the letter.

He concluded by saying he hopes childcare services for MPs will be introduced without too much delay.

In 2017, then-Speaker Anġlu Farrugia said parliament would “soon” have its own childcare centre, with the project expected by the end of that year. Nearly a decade later, the claim remains unfulfilled, leaving parents in parliament, particularly mothers, at a disadvantage.