Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said today that government and opposition should work together on setting up a mechanism to help minors who became victims of cyber bulling and other pressures, before tragedies took place.

Speaking at a political conference, Dr Muscat said that as a father he was concerned about recent tragic cases which involved minors. It was right that the Education Ministry had tightened regulation regarding the qualifications of those teaching children. Most teachers by far were dedicated and viewed their work as a vocation but it was important that there were no possible abuses.

Dr Muscat said he was also concerned over reports of cases of cyber bullying. This was not an issue of banning websites or otherwise. It was an issue of education, and Malta would do well to consider how it could instil in its children the skills to choose the right social networks and for parents to quickly identify and help their children if there were problems.

The state also had to consider what counselling it could offer such young victims before there were any tragedies. The two sides of the House could work with the Minister of Social Policy, the President and the Children Commission on the setting up of a system to help such children before it became too late. This would be a priority for the government.

POWER TARIFFS

Dr Muscat referred to the reduction of the water and electricity tariffs and said that it seemed that the Opposition had not realised what had happened, and had not uttered a single word.

He had said he would resign if he did not keep his promise to reduce the tariffs, and the tariffs had been reduced.

At the time, Dr Muscat recalled, Simon Busuttil and then Finance Minister Tonio Fenech had also been asked if they would resign if the tariffs did go down, something which they said was impossible. But they were scared and had not said they would resign.

Now, Dr Muscat, the people knew more than before that what the government promised, it delivered.

MIGRATION

Turning on migration, he said this was a humanitarian issue, as well as an issue of security. Malta would do its duty of rescuing people in distress. More efforts would be made to repatriate migrants who were not granted protection, currently numbering some 1,000. The agreement reached with Nigeria was a good step in this direction and would be followed up.

Dr Muscat defended the detention policy, saying it was essential because one did not know who the migrants were and what their purpose was. However, unaccompanied children were not terrorists and would not be detained.

JOB CREATION

Dr Muscat said a priority of the government was to create jobs. The government had faced a problem of some pharmaceutical problems reducing their workforce. Each problem was tackled individually and he was pleased that Baxter would actually engage 30 more workers. The government would continue to work hard in the manufacturing sector, the digital economy, e-gaming, retail, tourism and financial services, the maritime sector and SMEs in general.

Dr Muscat said he was 'immensely angered' by the Mepa decision granting Malta Freeport a one-year permit to repair oil rigs. The Authority, he said, acted autonomously, but the government would appeal the decision, something which was happening for the first time. A freeport was not a dockyard and one should not try to cut corners and merge, he said.

EQUALITY

Dr Muscat said he thought the Opposition leader was joking yesterday when he spoke on equality, when, at the same time, the Opposition was not backing the Civil Unions Bill. The biggest test of the opposition's credibility woudl be if it voted in favour of the bill on its third reading, he said. By so doing the opposition would only be bringing itself in line with comments which Lawrence Gonzi used to make, that the issue of adoptions was not about whether the parents were straight or gay, but what was in the best interests of the child. The best thing for Malta woudl be to had unanimity for equality.

KARMENU VELLA

In his address Dr Muscat spoke on the reasons why he had selected Karmenu Vella to become the next Maltese European Commissioner.

He said he had wanted somebody who was proactive. Mr Vella was a person who had worked with big business but had also worked with ordinary people. He could understand big multi-nationals and small communities. Few in Malta had these characteristics. The political conference held in Zurrieq, one of Mr Vella's 'home' towns, was addressed by Mr Vella himself.He had hard-hitting comments against the Opposition but joked about his appointment, especially after reports that his supporters were angry that he was leaving. He would have been worried, he said, had they actually wanted him to leave.

He promised to remain the Karmenu Vella he always was for the people and would continue to be active in his district for as long as the people wanted him."I will remain Il-Guy, in Zurrieq as well as Brussels," he said.

Having served as minister under four prime minister, Mr Vella said Joseph Muscat was one of the best prime ministers he had worked with. Dr Muscat, he said, was lucky that he had people to choose from when he carried out his reshuffle.In contrast, he said the Opposition was still formed of the 'bad' people of the past who had driven Malta into a wall.