"The set of derogatory mechanisms set in motion for the health emergency should not be limited to the emergency phase. It is essential that the activations of new structures necessary for the containment of the epidemic, such as reception facilities, take place in compliance with the regulations on safety at work and all applicable laws", it is what the president of the CNEL Tiziano Treu writes in the memo sent today to the Senate on the 1766 AS Act of the n.18/2020 decree relating to "Measures to strengthen the National Health Service and economic support for families, workers and businesses related to the covid-19 epidemiological emergency".
"The current epidemiological crisis highlights the evident inadequacy of the number of doctors in Italy with respect to the needs of the NHS, which must be overcome through structural measures capable of guaranteeing faster and more streamlined training, while maintaining high quality standards as well as the elimination of closed number for access to the degree courses. The decree-law appears overall timely and proportionate in the size and articulation of the interventions, at least in the short-term", reads the CNEL document.
"Italy has the economic and moral resources to overcome this terrible pandemic situation on its own. It could, for example, start issuing long-term government bonds to finance the National Health System, targeted to the needs of families, as happened in 2012 (Buono Italia), with small-denominated bonds (1000 euros), which would certainly be well received by Italians - adds the National Council of Economy and Labour - Italy's financial position is more solid than we are used to believing. Italy is the only country in the Union that has continuously achieved a primary surplus in its public budget for 29 years, as emerged from the Bank of Italy's research "Wealth of Italian families and non-financial companies 2005-2017" Italy and ISTAT. It is necessary to think of a sort of public guarantee on the debts that companies are accruing to get out of the crisis and to support credit to guarantee a certain flow of liquidity destined for the production system. We need more help for families and more significant and suitable protection for self-employed workers, as well as policies to support parenting and work-life balance, new rules for universalistic social safety nets other than citizenship income. Domestic workers risk being left without work and without income support tools ".
On the school front, however, the epidemiological emergency may mark the beginning of a process of recovery from the lack of preparation of the school world at the start of generalized distance learning and bridge the huge differences existing in the territory.
"The pandemic crisis has highlighted the costs that Italy has incurred for a decades-long austerity which, through the blockade of turnover in public administrations, has led to a reduction of over 500 thousand workers compared to the beginning of the century, coming down to a number of public workers equal to 4.6 for every 100 inhabitants, well below the European average. This lack of workers does not only concern the National Health System. Think of the effort that the prefectures have to make these days. Their offices have been run by managers in structurally insufficient numbers for years. Think of the local authorities, where there are no municipal secretaries, accountants, surveyors, social workers. Think of the superintendencies of the public works, where the staff of engineers, architects and surveyors is depleted. Let's also consider the school and the whole education system. A far-reaching programme will therefore be necessary for a general recruiting of young people to be included in public administrations, with ordinary procedures that are lighter than the current ones", underlines Treu.
The CNEL, within its constitutional prerogatives, will send every 15 days to Parliament and the Government an update of the synoptic table with the proposals of all the social and productive organizations represented in the Council.