People on unemployment benefits needed to be given the skills to re-enter the job market and increase their chances of employment, Social Affairs Committee chairwoman Deborah Schembri said yesterday.

Discussing the Green Paper on poverty and social exclusion in the committee, Dr Schembri said the relationship between social benefits and the minimum wage had to be examined so that an appropriate balance would be kept.

The authors of the Green Paper noted that in spite of the work carried out over the years, poverty still remained high on the social agenda. Dr Schembri said that arguably the most important element was the statistics, which were exposed for the first time.

She highlighted the issue of work between the ages of 20 and 60 and asked if this should be treated as a single cohort or subdivided.

Etienne Grech (PL) said that precarious employment was pushing people below the poverty line. The correlation between bullying and absenteeism should also be investigated since they were the cause of school dropouts and fodder for precarious employment.

Abuse of the social welfare system too should be discussed as this was rampant. He said social services should go to those who really needed them. The Social Services Department had been responsible for certain mistakes and these should not be paid for by the clients receiving the benefits.

Dr Grech said that in cases of disability, work opportunities were scarce and this area needed to be addressed with priority. He pointed out that the introduction of Breakfast Clubs and child care had gone a long way towards improving the quality of life of single parents.

Clyde Puli (PN) said that the economy in recent years had been growing and this was supporting the training and providing a suitable milieu for people to work hard and succeed.

An emphasis on the economy and job provision would bring a decline in poverty levels, albeit in some levels judicious pushes should be given to enable the weaker sectors in society to move on. He said that the proposals on childcare in the Green Paper went a long way in the direction he was proposing and he suggested that the limitations on childcare should be removed to enable prospective students to better their lot in life.

Regarding the issue of benefit fraud, Mr Puli said this may be a two-edged sword since over-zealousness may entrap persons who were at risk.

He criticised the Green Paper for presenting a “relative poverty” model, which he said could be used to rope in as wide or as narrow a band as desired.