Court proceedings on possible incorrect issue of work permits were underway, the Employment and Training Corporation said in a statement.

It said data as at the end of February showed 6,953 active employment licences. Of these, 55.6 per cent were in respect to EU citizens, 10.5 per cent to asylum seekers, those with temporary humanitarian or subsidiary protection (the latter get an automatic work permit) and 33 per cent to third country nationals.

The ETC said that EU citizens, except for Romanians and Bulgarians until the transitional arrangement is in force, had every right to work in Malta just as any Maltese citizen had a right to work in any EU country.

So employment licences for EU nationals, asylum seekers, people enjoying temporary humanitarian or subsidiary protection were issued irrespective of the occupation they applied for.

On the other hand, employment licences for third country nationals were subject to a labour market test to establish whether EEA or Swiss nationals were able to do the job in question.

These vacancies were notified via email to all registered job seekers who might apply for the post. They were also displayed on the ETC’s website and on the EURES Malta website. If a job seeker was deemed able to do the job, the corporation would not issue the work permit.

The ETC said employers who employed third country nationals were bound to take a private hospital health insurance cover for these employees.