A person who has a house in the UK and is moving to Malta has applied for social housing here, Social Policy Minister Michael Farrugia has revealed in a tweet.

It was the latest case of potential abuse or people expecting too much mentioned by Dr Farrugia in the past few days.

Speaking in parliament earlier this week,Dr Farrugisa had described how a man calling himself “homeless” eventually admitted to him that he was living with his girlfriend who was on welfare but he was applying for housing as he wanted to be on social welfare too, so that between the two of them they would get more benefits.

The minister expressed his astonishment that the man had no qualms about speaking so frankly to a minister about his intention to commit fraud, adding that if he had to list the anecdotes he heard every day he could write a bestseller.

There are too many asking for social housing under false pretences, he said.

The reality of social benefits abuse was something the government was determined to tackle through the process of “profiling”, so that the real social situation in the country could be accurately assessed, he said. Some were even carrying out illegal activities from government housing and if verified, he would not hesitate to take action against the perpetrators.

In a radio interview Dr Farrugia also spoke on the government’s commitment to tackle benefit fraud.

He underlined the work of the benefit fraud section and said abuses would not be tolerated – such as in the case when the circumstances of beneficiaries changed but they did not inform the Social Services Department and continued to receive benefits they were not entitled for. 

Dr Farrugia is currently in Vienna for a conference entitled Building Bridges covering social benefits, work, disabilities, rehabilitation and return to work.