Social Policy minister Marie Louise Coleiro Preca - expected to be nominated as the next President of Malta - was given a hero's welcome during a dialogue session with the public in her hometown Qormi this evening.

Introduced by discussion host John Bundy as "the most popular minister of this government", Ms Coleiro Preca was given a standing ovation by a packed hall, which parliamentary secretary Franco Mercieca jokingly said was "full of people from Qormi".

Despite the ongoing reports on the minister's move to San Anton Palace, the subject was not raised during the meeting even though people in the audience were informally discussing the issue.

In an upbeat introduction, Ms Coleiro Preca said that the social housing sector was being given a priority by the Government. She said that after a public call the Housing Authority received 44 offers from the private sector offering some 1000 units for social housing.

She said that while the government was committed to eradicating poverty, this required a long term and holistic policy which the administration was working on.

With regards to pensions, Ms Coleiro Preca said that a pensions reform team was currently working in the next stage of the reform and a report with recommendations should be presented to the government by September. She said that the government would also be addressing various anomalies in pensions and the pension anomalies of former dockyard workers will be tackled first as from next year.