Greetings. The decisions from today's session
will be presented by Deputy PM Matej Arčon.
Greetings. Today I would like to share with you
two bits of information regarding healthcare.
The government has adopted a decision
to establish the Public Agency for Quality in Healthcare.
This is part of the healthcare reform
and in line with the already adopted Quality in Healthcare Act.
This is an independent body.
The aim of the institution is to systematically monitor
the quality and safety in patient treatment.
The most important thing is that our patients,
our citizens receive services of the highest quality.
Secondly, the government decided
that the new hospital for the Gorenjska region will be in Kranj.
The decision was unanimous.
We know that Gorenjska urgently needs a new hospital,
there is no doubt about that.
Several locations were suggested.
There have been several studies and analyses conducted in the past,
and the last one assessed the advantages and disadvantages
of two locations, Kranj and Radovljica.
Both locations were found suitable,
but I must say that the analysis
gave a slight preference to Radovljica.
Ultimately, the coalition unanimously decided on Kranj,
ending the uncertainty.
We took into account the broader aspects
of Kranj's development as a regional centre.
It also has a higher population density
and the support of the local community and mayors.
Very importantly, the Municipality of Kranj
has committed itself, in writing,
to realise all of the required activities in a timely manner,
so construction can begin as soon as possible.
That includes tackling the challenges at this location,
archeological excavations, moving the power line,
buying land and adopting a spatial plan.
The Mayor has written a letter of commitment
to realise this within the given timeline,
and is, of course, responsible for this.
Thank you, we will now take questions.
Please introduce yourselves,
state your full name and media.
Greetings, Katarina Bulatović, STA.
Mr. Arčon, could you please comment first on today's topic,
when will the Agency for Quality begin operating,
how many employees will it have
and sourced from which HR pool?
Secondly, could you please comment
on the signatures thath the SDS party gathered
for calling a referendum.
Please also tell us how actively
your party will participate in the referendum. Thank you.
Thank you. The purpose of my press conferences
is to tell you what we adopted and why, so to provide a framework.
The specific contents are provided by the ministries.
I will tell you what I know about the establishment of the Agency.
Namely, a large part of the Agency's personnel
will consist of the competent authorities
of the Ministry of Health, and some additional ones.
The Minister said that the Agency will have about sixteen employees
and will begin operating immediately.
What was your second question? -The referendum.
We believe that this referendum is not only aimed
at the Minister or Ministry of Culture, or the government,
this referendum is against culture.
It is against the preservation of the Slovenian language
and culture as a whole.
We think it underestimates
all of those deserving cultural workers
who have, through their life's work,
more than earned their reward.
They get a certain pension supplement
and are only eligible to receive it when they retire.
Compared to sports,
cultural laureates receive significantly less
than athletes do for their work.
I should also point out that, if this referendum is approved,
this law will no longer be in force.
The old law from the 1970s will remain in effect,
continuing to allow the awarding of these prizes as it has to date.
This new law just defines the legislation anew,
including the conditions under which
the laureates get the pension supplement.
Will the Freedom Party participate?
Of course we will participate in the campaign,
because we know that it is our resposibility
to clearly tell our citizens
why a certain party wants to get them to a referendum.
I think that this issue in no way belongs in a referendum,
because it is actually just manipulating people, voters,
as it solves absolutely nothing.
It keeps the old law and abolishes the new one.
Luka Černe, POP TV.
I have a few questions, but first,
what is your party's position or rather comment
regarding the latest situtation with the Filipino workers in Kranj?
And how will the coalition respond regarding Minister Tanja Fajon,
who published a photograph on a social media platform
of herself with the CEO of the agency
that brought those workers to Slovenia?
Today, as always, I am here as the official government spokesman,
not a party spokesman.
We did, however, also discuss this topic today.
I can say that we ministers all in agreement.
We do not condone such actions,
even with possible acquaintanceships.
No one in this day and age deserves such treatment.
An industrialist paving the way for his career
by prioritising some sort of profit
before any human element
does not deserve to continue carrying on with their work.
That is undoubtedly a short-run course.
If you remember, there was a similar case
with Vegrad a couple of decades ago,
and we know how that ended.
If it were up to me, I would take their licence away at once.
Did you perhaps also talk about
Mrs. Fajon associating with this person?
No. Look, a person's actions in the business world
have to be separated from their friendship.
She even said herself that the same rules apply to everyone.
The competent minister and inspector
will issue a statement for the press today.
On a different topic, the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption
has found irregularities in the appointment
of the Director General of the Police
and instructed the government to take measures.
How do you comment this decision?
I admit that I only saw the title, I do not know enough to comment.
If there are recommendations, we will review them
and take appropriate measures.
The Commission's stance is quite severe.
Certain instruments are too poorly defined,
which can lead to inconsistent decisions,
unequal treatment of candidates,
abuse of powers of decision-makers,
and consequently the public losing confidence
in state institutions and the rule of law. You did not discuss this?
No, we did not, as this is today's news.
We have to review the situation and their recommendations,
and, if they are reasonable, comply, of course.
Lastly, have you been following the case
of the sheltered workshop CSS?
The Ministry of Finance and the government
have already issued a decree
on changing the strategy of state investments,
which also went through the Finance Committee.
How do you view this development?
It is going in the right direction. It is important
to safe this company in the short-term.
It has a new management and plan.
We want the company to keep functioning
and with the new strategy,
we are protecting companies that employ people with disabilities
and are owned by the state. -Next question.
Vitomir Petrović, Planet TV.
According to what you said about the new regional hospital,
I assume you already have a location
and you know
approximately when it will be built?
We do not have a date, but it is a part of the strategy until 2030.
It depends on the local community to fulfil the commitments
necessary for the building to begin,
from the spatial plan, moving the pylon
to the archaeological excavations. They also have to buy the land
they do not own yet.
From there, the process can start.
It is a medium-term project. -This is not connected to today's topic.
It looks like the state prosecutor's office will investigate
the President of the Parliament because of abuse of power.
Could you finally tell us
who is paying for her videos?
Her office denied everything
and said the payer is listed at the end,
but there, we only find the logo of the Freedom Movement.
Is your party paying for the videos?
I saw the title and was told
that she is supposed to be investigated. I want to wait
if she will actually be charged.
Then we will read it and respond.
The Freedom Movement has been paying for advertisements.
We are a political party and promote our activity
and our members, the President,
the President of the Parliament, MPs and ministers.
This is a part of our activity.
But I can't give you any answers about specific videos at the moment.
I will continue on this topic anyway.
Let us take the example of last year's address to the people
on Statehood Day. It was filmed in Villa Podrožnik,
which is a strictly protocol building.
It was booked
by the office of the President of the National Assembly,
but nowhere in the entire video does this function appear,
it's solely and exclusively her name and the Freedom Movement.
Look, I don't know the specific example that you've given.
I can give you an example, when I appear in a video
for a confrontation, the party takes extracts from that confrontation
and, of course, then promotes it on social networks.
I don't see the point of your question.
Do you think that we should not pay this?
You shouldn't be filming there on behalf of the party.
So you're saying the party filmed there?
I really can't answer that at the moment,
because I really don't know the details.
Do we have any other questions on Government activities?
About the regional hospital, if you have any information on that.
Where exactly in Kranj it will be, how big it will be,
how many employees it will have
and what it will combine. It has been rumoured
that the Golnik Clinic and the Kranj Maternity Hospital
are to be moved there. And about the employees,
some people pointed out that the employees
of the Ljubljana University Medical Centre were going to go there.
What are your answers? -These are all questions to follow.
The Ministry knows exactly.
According to my information, there will 600 beds,
it will combine the two institutions that you've mentioned.
The Ministry will be able to give you all the details.
Before the press conference, we received a question by e-mail.
Is it true that the Government replaced its representatives
on the psychiatric clinic institute council,
that is, dismissed the previous members. And if so, why?
All I can say is that this information is correct,
four members were replaced on the proposal of the Ministry of Health,
in accordance with the law and the regulation.
I don't know the names off the top of my head. Please read them.
All the other information will be answered by the competent ministry.
We're answering the question by N1.
Tomaž Subotič, Simon Zore, Žiga Barbarič and Dragica Vrkič Kozlan
have been replaced by Savo Tatalovič, Vesna Marinko,
Miha Resman and Boštjan Kavčič.
The replacement takes effect today, 20 March.
Any other questions? -About the referendum, if I may.
At the moment, various calculations are being made
as to the financial consequences.
What are the figures on how high the benefits will be
and how much it would cost?
Today at 2.30 PM the Minister of Culture
will give a statement on this referendum.
She knows these figures more precisely.
According to my information, it's about 600 to 700 thousand a year
for all the previous award-winners
who have received these awards so far.
As I said, the Minister will answer this question in more detail.
But we know how much a referendum costs, between 4 and 5 million.
Any other questions? Thank you,
this concludes the press conference. -Thank you, good luck. -Goodbye.