«Something good has been done, but from our point of view it isn’t enough». This is the assessment offered by Gaetano Troina (D-ML) in his explanation of vote on the bill dedicated to measures supporting families and the birth rate, debated and approved by the Grand and General Council (Consiglio Grande e Generale).
D-ML chose to abstain on the measure as a whole, while backing individual provisions it deemed positive during the examination of the articles. Troina acknowledged the need to act and praised the work carried out by the Secretariat, but stressed that, in his group’s view, the response put forward still falls short of addressing the difficulties families face today.
In his remarks, the councillor broadened the discussion to housing, the cost of living, employment, public services, school schedules and the balance between family life and career, calling for a comprehensive approach rather than a series of isolated measures. He also addressed the practical implementation of the new law and the need to ensure public offices are equipped to handle their new responsibilities.
Below is the full text of his remarks.
Gaetano Troina (D-ML): «In explaining our vote, we confirm the position we have already expressed on several occasions. On this text as a whole, we will abstain. We voted for and supported the articles that, from our point of view, deserved support, and we criticised those that we felt were not bold enough or missed the mark. There is no question that action of this kind was needed. I would also like to thank the Secretariat, which set to work trying to find solutions, because I understand it isn’t easy. Unfortunately, the dialogue was not always optimal, especially in the early stages. I acknowledge that more work was done during and after the Committee stage, but things could have gone much better, and a shared process could have started sooner. Let me recall that this measure stems from a motion approved by the Finance Committee in 2025, with the Secretariat committing to bring forward action in support of families. That action has now been delivered. There is something good here, and we have acknowledged it, but from our point of view it is not enough. Not so much regarding this single measure, but regarding the Government’s and the majority’s overall effort in support of families, because this is an issue that needs to be tackled from every angle. We have said it many times: families today do not just need one-off or piecemeal interventions like this one, but help that touches the entire administrative apparatus and, above all, the services the State provides for them. If a couple today decides not to have children, they may do so for many reasons. There can be economic, cultural or employment-related factors, difficulties in obtaining a home, or the need to choose between family and career, given that today, in almost all couples, both parents work — and this undeniably creates difficulties. Young couples who do decide to have children often do so later, at an older age than in the past. It is now rare to see young couples between 20 and 30 with children. There are some, and I want to pay tribute to them, because in today’s context they show no small amount of courage. But we must recognise that the age at which people have children today keeps rising, with all the consequences and risks that follow, including on the health front. This is something our society and our political class must take into account. The only real way to help families and young couples have children is to build a system that takes all their needs into consideration and allows parents to make choices both professionally and in terms of economic stability. That means being able to afford a home, to cover the cost of utility bills, of living expenses and of fuel. Today, a young family that takes the step of having a child finds itself, especially in the months right after the birth, overwhelmed by a series of difficulties and problems it has to solve, often without receiving sufficient help. When both parents work all day, it becomes complicated to reconcile schedules, timetables and family dynamics, especially once the child starts school and class hours are incompatible with the parents’ working hours. Often, moreover, there are no grandparents or other relatives able to provide adequate support. Our system needs to understand this and take it on board. Do we want to encourage the use of babysitters? Good — then let’s start taking steps to make this option accessible to young couples who have no one else to turn to for help. Can we extend or restructure school hours differently, so as to meet the needs of parents who might both work from 8:30 in the morning until 6 in the evening? These are all measures and examples we need to think seriously about, if the real intention is to help families who decide today to have a child, because the family of today is no longer what it was in the 1950s or 1960s. We have to recognise this. It calls for difficult and courageous decisions, but they must be made — otherwise these measures, while useful and important, will not be enough for us, as a system, to give an effective response to our fellow citizens. I won’t go on much longer. I simply want, on behalf of the group and its councillors, to offer our thanks in advance and, above all, to urge the Government and the entire administration to work as a team, because this measure assigns a series of new powers, functions and responsibilities to public administration offices and departments that did not have them until now. This won’t be easy. I’m thinking, for example, of the Contributions Office, or the office formerly responsible for subsidised housing, which today has a different name and different responsibilities, or other public administration offices that already have many obligations to fulfil and to which we are now adding new ones. It is therefore essential that the administration, and above all the Government, work to ensure that these offices are actually able, as soon as possible, to deliver the results envisaged by this law. Politics is always very good at creating new functions and new responsibilities, but not always equally good at implementing them and, above all, at providing staff with the tools they need to carry out the new tasks assigned by such measures. This is very important, especially for a law like this one, which touches on many fronts and sensitive issues requiring meticulous, painstaking and precise work. We therefore express partial satisfaction, which is why our vote will be one of abstention. However, we urge policymakers not to forget this issue now, and not to think that everything has been resolved with the law on birth rates and family support, because there is still a great deal of work to be done on many other fronts».
