Social benefit abuse will no longer be tolerated and the new jobs policy launched this morning will close loopholes that allowed people to register for jobs for which there were no vacancies, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said this evening.

Speaking at an event in Pembroke launching the European Parliament campaign by the Labour Youth Forum entitled Charge the Vote, Dr Muscat said there were currently 350 people registering for a job as petrol pump attendants, a job which usually saw some five or six vacancies a year.

The new policy would no longer allow these loopholes and people registering for a certain type of employment will have to accept employment in a similar job.

"We want seriousness and we want the jobs we are creating to be filled by Maltese," Dr Muscat said.

He said the government was being generous with employers paying the full maternity leave on their behalf in return for a small increase in the national insurance premium. It was also being generous with minimum wage earners by topping up their income.

Although this might cost the government electorally, it was one of the strongest packages of reforms which would give a social aspect to the labour market while making it more flexible and inclusive, he said.

“This will, in turn, lead to a more competitive country with a better economy."

Dr Muscat said that it was not fair on those who genuinely wanted to work that the system was clogged by people who were not really interested in working.

“It is not fair that your taxes are going to people who do not deserve it," he added.

He said the measures announced in the new policy were welcomed by unions and employers.

On civil rights, Dr Muscat said that in its first year, the Labour government had changed the country was changed from an "arch-conservative" to one that was ahead of other larger countries.