22 September 2007

Council of Ministers: New Prisons

Text:
"It was a tricky Cabinet meeting: today we examined financial priorities. The Minister for the Economy, Padoa Schioppa explained how it will be possible to put together the next Finance Bill. It is certain there will not be any tax increases; we cannot afford to go down that road. If money is needed, we shall have to find it by reducing waste and privileges, and by combating tax evasion.
It will require lightness of touch, the aim being to avoid further State iindebtedness. Obviously, with a finance bill of this kind, it is a question of defining priorities. Each minister presented his wish list, in terms of current expenditure and investment. A lot of money goes on employing public servants, on staffing.
I was concerned not so much about current expenditure, because in a year I have already reduced the staff at my ministry by three or four thousand, as about spending on investment, or at any rate on essentials. In the Cabinet I am one of those who has asked that the Finance Bill should not be a mere accounting exercise, but that it should send a message to the country. As chair of Italia dei Valori, and as a minister, I have spoken out on three issues, advocating three solutions that we need to carry forward: solidarity, education, and security.
In these three areas, what can I do in concrete terms? My brief is infrastructure, so I can give an answer only in that field. I would do something very different if I were Minister of Justice…
Where solidarity is concerned, I shared with the other ministers my “housing plan”. I think sums should be earmarked for rebuilding the housing stock available to local authorities for those who cannot afford a house and are in danger of ending up on the streets. We should not hand housing out free, but if a public agency has its own housing stock it can meet the needs of the weakest sections of society. This would also create work for the enterprises whose task it would be to restructure and rebuild the housing concerned. For this, I asked for one billion, two hundred million, together with technical regulations designed to speed up procedures. I also asked, as a preliminary measure, for a solution to the problem that will arise on 15 October, when the moratorium on evictions comes to an end. Some people are saying it should be extended. No! Owners should not have to pay for the inability of the State to meet the needs of the weakest in society. We should take a series of measures to prevent these 2,500 families from ending up on the streets, but not without restoring the right of ownership to the owners.
Where schools are concerned, there is a very delicate issue of safety: there are thousands of schools which are in a similar state to the school at San Giuliano, in Puglia, which collapsed due to an earthquake, killing tens of children. We cannot allow this to happen again. I put forward a plan to make schools safe, including their plumbing and electrical systems, with interventions at already identified schools, region by region.
Security: there are so many things that can be done but I, If I am given the resources, I can build additional prisons and put right the existing ones. There is a lot of talk of the damaging effects of the Great Pardon nowadays. Do not forget that the Great Pardon was justified on the grounds of overcrowding in prisons. Well, after a year, the prisons are more jam-packed than ever and the detainees are worse off than before. So shall we have another Great Pardon ? It would be unacceptable and immoral. If there are more criminals, we should build more prisons. This is the contribution I can make as Minister for Infrastructure.
I am concerned, as you can see, not only with roads, bridges, tunnels and railways, but also to create infrastructure that serves the country."

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Information