Bill on personal assistance to receive second reading

Zagreb - The Croatian parliament on Friday decided that a bill on personal assistance will receive a second reading, with members of the parliamentary majority commending it and opposition MPs welcoming it but noting that it leaves a number of issues unresolved.

MP Jelena Miloš of the Green-Left Bloc said that the bill is a result of efforts by numerous associations and persons with disabilities and that there is room for its further improvement.

Persons with disabilities whose parents have the status of caregivers have the right to a personal assistant, the parents are not the assistant's replacement, and the rights of persons with intellectual disabilities must be discussed in second reading, she said.

MP Katarina Peović (Workers' Front) said that it was good the law would finally be adopted to make sure personal assistance was financed in a more stable and long-term way instead of on an ad-hoc basis. This is not just a social but also a labour rights-related issue, and that is where we are most skeptical, she said.

MP Peđa Grbin (SDP) said the issues that need fine-tuning are the method determining personal assistants' hourly rate, beneficiaries' contribution to the hourly rate, and the inappropriately long timeframe for the adoption of secondary regulations.

The parliament today also unanimously declared 31 May National Foster Care Day.

It also passed a law on fertiliser products, and decided that a bill on non-contentious procedures should receive a second reading.

It took note of a dozen reports, including reports on the work of the Conflict of Interest Commission in the period from 2019 to 2021, reports on the right to access information for 2020 and 2021, and reports on the operation of the HRT public broadcaster in the period from 2019 to 2021.

MPs also adopted a report on the effects of the Islands Act in 2021, which shows that that year a record HRK 4.4 billion was invested in the islands, the highest amount ever.

The parliament is wrapping up its current session and will be in recess during the Easter holidays, Speaker Gordan Jandroković said, offering his best wishes to all Croatian citizens and Croats abroad for Easter.