Labour and Social Policy Minister Marin Piletic said on Tuesday that the adoption of a new set of measures to help households and the business sector could be expected around 16 March, and that it would take effect after 1 April, after it was hammered out in cooperation with the social partners.

“As before… the draft measures have been forwarded to the social partners – the unions and the employers,” the minister told reporters on the margins of the conference “European Social Fund Plus for a Decade of Development”.

Once possible changes are made, the measures will be presented to the public and the government is expected to adopt them at its session on 16 March, Piletic said.

Recipients of social benefits will keep their real estate

Asked about ambiguities surrounding the Social Welfare Act, under which the state by default puts a lien on all real estate owned by recipients of social benefits, which is why some fear they will lose their home and are withdrawing their applications for social benefits, the minister said that the said regulation was nothing new and that it was not true that it meant that the property owned by recipients of social benefits would be confiscated.

The said regulation is about the state securing a guarantee that the social benefits received will be repaid in case the property is inherited or sold, he said.

Piletic noted that helping and supporting one’s parents or household members is a legal obligation and that a person not willing to help their family members cannot expect to inherit their property and sell it for their own benefit.

“There are no risks for recipients of social benefits regarding that legal obligation, there is no risk that the state will do anything unfair during their life or for as long as they receive the benefits. The message is clear – the state is ready to provide all types of social benefits,” he said.

Speaking of the Personal Assistance Act, he said that the competent departments had been asked to state their opinions on the draft bill, which should be submitted to the parliament for first reading, and that agreement on the document had been reached with the ombudsman for persons with disabilities and a number of associations.

The purpose of the bill is to increase the current number of recipients of personal assistance from 4,000 to more than 14,000. After the new law takes effect, state allocations for that purpose will increase from 150 million kuna (€20 million) in 2022 to €150 million, he said.