"If we reviewed the government's program point by point, we fulfilled about 70 percent of commitments. By the way, when it comes to today's administration, I keep hearing them say 'conservatives'. But we make merely half of the ruling majority, we are a coalition majority and have to make compromise in decisions," she said in the interview.
In Degutienė's words, the coalition failed to reach objectives in connection to reduction of the bureaucratic apparatus and made little progress in the social sector.
"I expected a lot from the Sunset Commission – we had ambitious aspirations; however, did not achieve the result we expected. Little or too little has been done in the social sphere. It takes money, and the number of those in need of support increases during a crisis - consequently, it is very important to distribute the money among those who need them most. There are positive results, for example, successful pilot projects in social benefits. We see clearly that the system needs further reforms in light of the wide social gap, and it is a task for several parliamentary tenures. Unfortunately, a generous system and a generous ministry operated over the eight years of Social Democratic rule before us, there were no reforms whatsoever," the parliamentary speaker said.
"We wanted to reform the health system, this has been started. However, we cannot develop a Scandinavian health care system model with the level of life in Lithuanian farmsteads. People do not have the money to get into a car and drive dozens of kilometers to the nearest doctor's office. The accessibility of health care services in Lithuania has deteriorated. By the way, international health and social experts do not advise major reforms in these areas during a crisis, as they are the most sensitive fields in the social sense, which are the worst affected during such times," Degutienė said.
