By Dora Antoniou

Everyday life comes to the fore as the government returns to normalcy after the holiday season. At the cutting edge of government planning is to develop coordinated parallel actions in each sector, there is talk of a “bundle of policies”, with the aim of working multiplyingly in terms of the result. It is an implicit admission that policies implemented piecemeal have not delivered as expected. Now, as time is running out – the government is heading towards the halfway point of its four-year term – the option is to implement a concerted multi-pronged action, with the aim, obviously, of improving the polls on effectiveness on the day-to-day front.

Housing – health – education are the three areas in which the weight falls at the dawn of the new year. Government sources speak of a network of actions in each of these sectors, in order for the results to quickly begin to become visible to the citizens. So, in relation to the roof, where there is already a lot of interest in the program “My house 2“, through which approximately 20,000 beneficiaries with low-interest loans are expected to acquire their first home, great importance is also given to the implementation of parallel actions: the interventions for a stricter framework for Airbnb with restrictions on its expansion in areas of the center where there is a large housing stock pressure, which come to be added to the changes in relation to the Golden Visa, but also to the energy upgrading and renovation programs, which are estimated to contribute to opening closed apartments and to increase availability in the housing market. The staff of Megaros Maximos expect a visible result from the combined implementation of all these actions.

It is a great challenge for the government, as housing remains one of the biggest problems of everyday life, with the policies that have been implemented so far not showing convincing answers to society’s needs, as shown by the poll findings.

In it too difficult field of healthin the government will seek to improve the services provided, especially in relation to the long waiting times in the public health system. The recruitment of 500 paramedics is expected immediately, with the aim of reducing the waiting time in the emergency room. Interventions for afternoon surgeries continue in the new year, in order to normalize waiting lists in hospitals, while from the beginning of February the electronic platform for appointments with doctors contracted with the EOPYY will be fully operational, with the aim of dealing with the difficulty of finding an appointment that many patients complain about.

In education, the current two months are decisive for the start of the operating process non-state universitiesa pivotal government reform, which will shape the country’s new academic map. At the same time, the opening of the Public Standard Onassis Schools is expected, while interventions are planned to renew and strengthen the building infrastructure, but also to strengthen the autonomy of the school units and the role of the principal.

At Friday’s cabinet meeting, planning, coordination and legislative initiatives for the next period will be discussed.