Am I surprised? Not at all.

““Jien iddedikajt ħajti għal missieri u ta’ kuljum immur inżuru mit-3pm u nitlaq biss xħin jagħżel li jorqod hu u mhux xħin idaħħluh jorqod il-carers” qal Cuschieri f’intervista ma’ din il-gazzetta.”

That is not being demanding. It’s downright arrogance by not abiding with the rules.

http://www.illum.com.mt/ahbarijiet/politika/37716/manuel_cuschieri_jirrifjuta_karigi_offruti_minn_joseph_muscat_biex_jieu_sieb_missieru#.VhjPeXmhcdU

What is your understanding of a PPP scheme?

That the places are free?

The government pays for them, using public funds, at full whack, minus part of the pension that only covers a few days stay.

And in this case, there is one basic pension for TWO people.

I am always shocked to find out how many people don’t understand how things work.

With your reasoning, the government should pay for everybody’s stay at private care homes, so that the majority of those who stay there don’t have to pay their bills by selling houses or land or having all their children chip in.

They should be ‘lucky’ like those who have a daughter married to the prime minister and get preferential treatment because of that.

It is not luck. It is abuse. And in many cases, it is also corruption.

Like most couples that age, only the husband has a pension, not the wife.

I trust you can work that out.

It takes a minute or two to decipher your message.

Ministers should set the example.

Occupying a bed at St Vincent de Paule Home, when one can very well afford to pay for private nursing care (as Mintoff could) should be frowned upon, let alone paying for a private nursing home out of the taxpayers` money, for those who can more than afford to pay for it themselves.

Even though rules might have been tailor-made to make everything perfectly legal, the whole business stinks, and is grossly unethical.

Were this to happen in any real democracy, the offending minister would be hounded out of office in a matter of days by a furious press.

But both democracy and a free press are alien concepts to the average Maltese voter.

Some very specialised chemo can cost around €8,000 a month. Now tell me this: how many patients would be able to pay two months of this treatment upfront before being refunded around 60%?