The Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on the occasion of today’s Mother’s Day he emphasized the “sustained and practical support” of the government to mothers, in his weekly Facebook post.
The prime minister mentioned some examples from the second term of the government to support the mother: “It is the re-increase of the tax-free allowance by 1000 euros for families with children (since we have already increased it by 1000 euros for each child in our first term), the extension of the maternity allowance, from 4 to 9 months for freelancers and female farmers, and the increase in the birth allowance that we introduced in our first term, from Euro2,000 for each child to Euro2,400 to Euro3,500, depending on the number of children. I might write a lot more that happened in the last 5 years, but I’ll settle for these. So happy birthday to all the mothers!”.
The prime minister also referred to aspects of the government work, and among other things noted the start of sending envelopes for the postal vote, to the 24-hour phone line for the protection of minors, for the National Program for the Prevention of Breast Cancer “Fofi Gennimata”, where the new age groups are women aged 45-49 and 70-74, i.e. almost 567,000 women, while the program in total concerns 1.4 million women.
He also spoke regarding the new more favorable measures for granting the rent or cohabitation allowance for the temporary housing of owner-occupiers and tenants of the areas affected by the extreme floods of September 2023 – specifically in the Region of Thessaly, in Fthiotida, in Evia and Eastern Attica.
Among them he pointed out the subsidy for buildings suitable for use, which were flooded, which is extended in time for an additional 6 months and reaches 12 months. So far, he said, 1.65 million euros have been paid to 1,490 families as a subsidy for the first quarter, i.e. to 9 out of 10 beneficiaries who submitted applications and supporting documents on time.
In detail, the post of Mr. Mitsotakis is as follows:
“Good morning! From here I wish you all Christ is Risen and Happy Birthday. We took a little break last week from reviewing, but we’re back today with a bang. I hope you too took a break over the Easter days, and had a great time!
How beautiful I hope all mothers spend this day, since today they celebrate! They certainly deserve recognition, gratitude for what they do and our admiration every day, not just on Mother’s Day. But today is an occasion, a reminder to express it to them. And a reason for me to tell you that our support for mothers is permanent and practical. Just a few examples from our second term, are the re-increase of the tax-free allowance by 1000 euros for families with children (following we already increased it by 1000 euros for each child in our first term), the extension of the maternity allowance, from 4 to 9 months for freelancers and female farmers, and the increase in the birth allowance that we introduced in our first term, from Euro2,000 for each child to Euro2,400 to Euro3,500, depending on the number of children. I might write a lot more that happened in the last 5 years, but I’ll settle for these. So happy birthday to all mothers!
Let’s now go through the topics of today’s weekly review one by one. And I will start with the postal vote, as we have now entered the final stretch for the extremely important – both from a European and a national point of view – referendum on 9 June.
As of last Thursday, the mailing of the envelopes with the election materials to all our fellow citizens who have registered on the digital platform of the Ministry of the Interior began – and there are many, more than 200,000, to be exact 202,556 voters, residents of Greece and 127 other countries! The delivery of the envelopes has been undertaken by the ELTA courier service and a private courier company, to deliver them to the address stated. Already many of you will have received the relevant notification by sms or email and many also the envelope with the ballots.
Because it is something new for our country, the envelope contains – apart from the ballots – a form with detailed instructions for the remote voting process. Attention: following voting, you must return the envelope in time, because the collection of postal votes ends at 5 pm on the eve of the election, that is, on Saturday, June 8. They will be gathered in a specially guarded area, and on the day of the European elections, the voting files will be put by the electoral commission into a special ballot box, which will be opened following the completion of the electoral process. Needless to say, the integrity of the process is absolutely guaranteed and guaranteed by the highest officials of the Judiciary, who will supervise the opening, sorting and counting of the postal votes.
We now go to the special 24-hour telephone line for the protection of minors implemented by the Ministry of Citizen Protection. This is the 10201 line that was activated by the Greek Police and aims to contribute to the prevention and treatment of incidents of juvenile delinquency, which is a problem that has unfortunately reached alarming proportions. No child should feel alone and vulnerable. That is why the new telephone line will operate continuously, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, throughout the country. Thus, through 10201, specialized and trained staff of the Juvenile Protection Sub-Directorate will manage complaints, immediately mobilize services according to need, but also provide advice to children and parents. In the next period, a special application for mobile phones will be activated, through which minors will be able to report incidents and ask for help. I will write you regarding it when we have it. In any case, our efforts continue.
And the next action I want to tell you regarding also involves children, but it is more pleasant. These are the two accommodation programs for children in children’s camps for the year 2024 implemented by DYPA and EFKA with a total budget exceeding 50 million euros. Through these programs, vouchers are granted for a total of 106,000 children aged 6 to 16 (70,000 of them are granted by DYPA and 36,000 by EFKA), and thus the children will be able to take a 15-day vacation with recreational and educational activities – from mid-June to mid-September. In the camps operating in the fire-stricken municipalities of Istiaea-Edipsos and Mantoudi-Limni-Ag. Annas, but also in camps in the Region of Thessaly, the stay can last up to 30 days. The deadline for submitting applications to the DYPA program (on the gov.gr portal) ends tonight at midnight, so if you are interested, hurry!
I am coming to the health field. I have talked to you several times regarding this, but today it is important to say that within the week the sending of SMS to the new beneficiaries of the National Program for the Prevention of Breast Cancer “Fofi Gennimata” began. The new age groups are women aged 45-49 and 70-74, i.e. almost 567,000 women, while the program in total concerns 1.4 million women. Those of you who have not activated the immaterial prescription, you can go to any cooperating center, public or private, to book your appointment without any financial burden. Let me remind you that so far more than 300,000 mammograms have been performed and more than 20,000 women with symptoms have been identified in time, which gives very high chances for their complete cure. So if you get a message, don’t ignore it!
I stay in the health field to remind you that there is now a new online service for scheduling appointments for free Blood Tests at Public Primary Health Care Services. That is, you can visit the online platform www.finddoctors.gov.gr, and search and choose the appropriate structure and the date that serves you in your area. Thus, citizens will also be served without waiting and suffering, and primary care structures will be able to offer better services.
The next topic is the new, more favorable measures for granting the rent or cohabitation allowance for the temporary accommodation of residents (owners and tenants) of the areas affected by the extreme floods of September 2023 -specifically in the Region of Thessaly, in Fthiotida, in Evia and in Eastern Attica. So what are these measures?
Firstly, the subsidy for fit for use buildings that were flooded is being extended for an additional 6 months to 12 months – a first. For the cases of the other categories of buildings, i.e. those labeled “yellow” and “red”, the subsidy applies from the first moment for two years. Secondly, the granting of the temporary housing subsidy of the second quarter is accelerated, and significant facilities are given to the beneficiaries to submit the relevant supporting documents. To give you an idea of how this program is progressing, so far 1.65 million euros have been paid to 1,490 families as a first quarter subsidy, i.e. to 9 out of 10 beneficiaries who submitted applications and supporting documents on time. Of course, the examination of statements and payments continue on a daily basis. The subsidy can reach up to 300 euros per month.
But our support for flood and fire affected areas does not stop at housing. Businesses that suffered financial losses from these phenomena can submit a request for aid on the AADE mybusinesssupport platform until May 31. For Thessaly, the financial support concerns 5 different categories of businesses (of the Municipalities of Palamas and Farkadona, tourist businesses, passenger transport, accommodation, fishing businesses) while in Evros the support scheme is focused on businesses active in the tourism sector in the areas of the Municipality of Soufli and of the Municipal Affairs Unit.
These special schemes come to complete the framework of state aid to businesses, agricultural holdings and households. Framework which, through the first aid and the advance payment of 50% of the state aid, has so far paid 242 million euros to beneficiaries from the floods and fires of the second half of 2023.
“There are many Egyptian cities to go to, to learn and to learn from the educated.” With this verse from the poem “Ithaca” by our great poet K.P. Cavafy, I will close today’s post, making a quick “trip” to Alexandria, where this weekend the inauguration of the renovated Cavafy House by the President of the Republic and the Minister of Culture of our country. The restoration was sponsored by the Onassis Foundation in collaboration with the Hellenic Cultural Foundation. And so, the global community will be able to be transported back in time to the place where our great poet wrote some of his greatest works and which undoubtedly shaped his poetic identity.
Thank you very much for your time! Happy birthday once more to all the mothers, and we’ll see you once more next Sunday!”
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