Thank you for being here and thanks to all those who have taken part and provided their support today, starting with the members of the Government who have accompanied me on my visit here: Undersecretary to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers Mantovano, Minister of the Interior Piantedosi, Minister of Education Valditara, Minister for Sport Abodi. I also wish to thank Chief of Police Vittorio Pisani, the prefect, all members of the committee for public order and security who have just met with us and the public prosecutors; Mayor Manfredi is also here. In short, there is an important presence here that wants to make an important statement. We have come here today for several reasons. The first is to respond to the invitation from Father Maurizio Patriciello, an extraordinary man and an extraordinary priest whom I wish to thank for his invitation, for his welcome, for the advice he has given us and, above all, for the work he does every day in a particularly challenging area and for how he shows that you can be an example, represent an example. Father Maurizio is an example and a resource for us all. 
We are here to express our solidarity with the innocent victims of an inhumane act, a hideous crime that has clearly shocked everyone. However, we are above all here to bring back the serious, authoritative and steadfast presence of the Italian State, of the institutions of the Republic, which in areas like this have often not been perceived enough, and perhaps have not been sufficiently present. The fact we are here today, almost ten years on from the awful story of the little girl Fortunata Loffredo, the six-year-old who fell from a balcony and was then found to have been raped, and a year after the death of another child called Antonio, the fact we are here today to condemn an episode as barbaric as the one we are condemning, means that there has been a failure here. The State and the institutions have failed here, despite efforts having been made. I therefore think that we need to try and send out some different signals. A just State has first and foremost the duty to protect the weakest, and the main ones belonging to that category are children; I must confess that the number of people involved in the double rape fuels my fear that there are more episodes like this than those that emerge on record. 
So, I think that brave politics, I think that a serious State, must be able to take full responsibility above all for things that seem difficult to resolve. This is precisely what we intend to do: we have not come here only to express condemnation and solidarity, albeit necessary; we have come here to say that we intend to take action and take responsibility. The main message we want to send out is that there can be no ‘free zones’ in Italy, and we are sending that message from here but Caivano’s Parco Verde is not the only area in such conditions. As we know, there are many areas in these conditions, and this message is addressed to the many places like Caivano in Italy.
We think that, to seriously talk to these areas - to talk to the peripheries where people think that the State will not be able to solve the problems anyway, that, either way, the State only comes to parade around and then disappears, announcing problems that then remain unsolved - I think that the most serious message we can give is to reverse this trend, starting with this area, starting with this area that is today in the news because of its problems. Our goal is for this area to be in the news tomorrow because it represents a model. From being a problem to being an example. This is the goal we want to set ourselves, that this Government wants to set itself, with the cooperation of all institutions, at all levels. 
There are two main guidelines for our action, which I intend to involve the entire Government in.
The first is the State’s firm stance against criminality, against illegality, against drugs. This area will be radically cleaned up and I assure you that you will soon see the results of the Government’s visit here today. 
In this regard, I wish to thank the public security forces and judicial officers who work in this extremely difficult area, leading a daily battle to stamp out crime, to defend the weakest. I want to say that they are not alone, they will be less and less alone; the presence of public security forces must be strengthened here, as must the possibility for the judicial system to work, and we discussed this in our meeting just now.
You will soon see the results of this visit in terms of control over the area. However, control over the area alone does not solve the problems people are facing and so there is a second key guideline for the work we are undertaking, which regards the need to provide this area with the services citizens have been waiting for, have been asking for, and would have liked to have seen a long time ago. This is why Minister [for Sport and Youth] Abodi and Minister [of Education and Merit] Valditara are here today, are among the first ministers to come, but you will see all of them: to say that we are here to start giving precise answers from today.
The first of these answers regards the large, the huge, Delphinia sports centre. This is more than just a gym, we are talking about facilities covering approximately 25,000 square metres that had several swimming pools, tennis courts, indoor areas; it would appear from the investigation that this may also be the place where the double rape was committed. These facilities have been abandoned for years, after being closed several years ago; today, this is an open-air dump and one of the places where degradation fosters crime. My goal, our goal, is to reopen the sports centre by next spring. We are involving military engineers to clean it up, we are involving the company Sport e Salute (President Marco Mezzaroma is here, whom I thank) in the area’s redevelopment. We will introduce the necessary regulations to be able to apply derogations but, above all, when the centre is reopened, we will involve the ‘Fiamme oro’ sports team of the Italian State Police (Polizia di Stato) in its running. We want to do this within a few months, giving a concrete, tangible sign of a State that is able to work within a certain time frame, that is able to give responses that were thought to be difficult. This work will cost around EUR 10 million, but this will allow us to turn a monument to degradation into a place for socialising, a meeting place, a place offering alternatives, a place where people can also feel safe. 
Then there is the matter of schools, which is something else we have discussed during our various meetings this morning. I have met with Eugenia Canfora here, who is the director of the Morano school and an extraordinary teacher; in areas such as this, there are people who do incredible things. She told me about her extremely valuable work, as indeed can be seen, against students dropping out of school in an area such as this one, going door to door. I also want to tell her that she is not alone, that we will do our part. Minister [of Education and Merit] Valditara, who is here, signed the ‘Agenda Sud’ [‘Agenda for the South’] decree yesterday.
The ‘Agenda Sud’ decree focuses precisely on the issue of fighting the education gap, fighting against students dropping out, and invests more than EUR 260 million, involving around 2,000 schools in the south of Italy (including all four ‘first-cycle’ schools in Caivano). What does this mean? It means there will be more staff, it means there will be resources for schools to remain open in the afternoon, to keep them open also outside of teaching hours, it means we will help teachers also with regard to providing the youngsters most in difficulty with psychological and social support. I have been asked several times about the lack of social workers and I will discuss this with President of the Campania Region De Luca, whom I will be meeting even though my schedule is very tight – I am meeting with him because I believe that, also on this, all institutional levels can and must work together. With the activities included in the ‘Agenda Sud’ decree, we can certainly make a difference. This means that up to 20 extra teachers will be arriving at these four schools. We will also try to provide responses in terms of education. There are important regulations in my view regarding the issue of students dropping out, and I was asked about this by the public prosecutors present today. I believe the regulations to fight students dropping out of school need to be strengthened because, yes, it’s true that schooling is mandatory but let’s say the sanctions today for families who decide not to send their children to school do not seem sufficient to me. This is therefore something else we intend to work on and I thank those who have asked me about it.
Staying on the subject of safeguarding culture, social relations, sport and lifestyles, Minister [of Culture] Sangiuliano has already made EUR 12 million available over three years to open a library, multimedia room and reading room that can also be housed inside the Delphinia Centre, making it a multi-purpose centre.
Then there is the issue of employment, of course. First of all, I think these initiatives have to also represent job opportunities for local residents, which is why I have given indications that priority be given to those who live in these neighbourhoods and want to work, who want to believe that alternatives can exist, when it comes to jobs at the sports centre, cultural centre and in all the facilities to be opened, because lots of people also in difficult areas [are active] – very many people indeed, far more than we see, because a tree falling always makes more noise than the forest growing, but there is a forest that is also growing in these areas and we must recognise the value of these people.
I want to say how much I have appreciated the fact that, over the last few days, from when I announced that I would be taking Father Maurizio up on his invitation until today, very many organisations have come forward – a lot of businesses, a lot of trade associations – to say ‘we also want to do our part’. We will involve all of them.
On the subject of work, among other things – and we will be talking about this in more detail – tomorrow will see the launch of a platform by the Ministry of Labour which can be used by those who used to receive the ‘reddito di cittadinanza’ benefit [‘citizenship income’], and others, to have the chance, for example, to initiate paid training courses, community service; we have put the whole issue of matching labour supply and demand online. This is another very, very important part of the work that needs to be done in these areas.
However, I also want to say that these are just the first measures we will be introducing here, so regarding the issue of so-called ‘free zones’ or abandoned areas, of deprived suburbs, which is something that has been discussed for years. Many things have been done here too (we realise that many initiatives have been pursued in the past), but the problem is that, very often, such initiatives are not completed, so there is a matter of focus and continuity that I believe can make the difference.
The issue of Caivano has therefore become a key issue on the Government’s daily agenda: it involves the Council of Ministers in its entirety. I will ask every member of the Government to come here in turn, to make their own contribution to this work and also to monitor what is happening. What happens if we try and focus all our energy on one place, and clearly by doing so we produce regulations that are also needed in order to work on others too, gradually dealing with every single issue that needs to be addressed? - because it is only possible to resolve issues if we provide all-round solutions. It is only possible to resolve issues if we address all problems at the same time. What happens if we try and focus our work, give continuity to that work, monitor implementation of the measures we are pursuing and show that the State doesn’t just show up for a day, or maybe two, when something happens, announces measures and then is not able to follow them? I think we can try and make a difference starting here, making this change of pace real here and then taking it to the other ‘free zones’, of which there are currently too many in Italy.
I realise this is a major commitment we are taking on, it is not an easy challenge, but I also believe this is the role of politics. I always remember the words of Saint Augustine: Start doing what is necessary, then do what is possible, and you may find yourself doing the impossible. This is what we want to try and do here.
Thank you all for your attention and have a good day.

[Courtesy translation]