Families Minister Glenn Blakeney last night assured a town-hall meeting that abuse of the Financial Assistance system rarely occurs.And Premier Paula Cox has urged Bermudians to take advantage of job training opportunities being provided by her administration.Mr Blakeney said that the Department was “very proactive” in dealing with able bodied clients.He said of the 1,300 persons on Financial Assistance, 522 are senior citizens, 523 are persons with disabilities, and 188 cannot for some reason maintain a full time job.“The people that are able to work, they have no physical impediments, no challenges, number 130,” he said.“For the most part, I can tell you that of the able bodied people, there are very few who are abusing the system.”The pair were speaking at the close of a town-hall meeting on the 2012-13 National Budget.About 50 people attended the meeting which was held at the Berkeley Institute. Premier Paula Cox, Deputy Premier Derrick Burgess, Economy Minister Patrice Minors, Environment Minister Marc Bean and Education Minister Dame Jennifer Smith each addressed the meeting with a budget brief on their portfolios before being asked prepared questions by a senior civil servant.At question time, a woman recounted how some young people had told her that they were not working because they were on Financial Assistance and “it’s too hot to work”.“I’ve asked them ‘are you working?’ and they say ‘Oh no, I’m on Financial Assistance, they pay my rent’. And furthermore it’s too hot to go out and look for a job,” the senior citizen said.She said she had heard a story of a Financial Assistance client who was able bodied and had had five children.“I feel personally there are young people that are abusing the system. They are really abusing the system,” she said.“My definition of abuse is you are still able to obtain CableVision, you have a car, you still travel, you have a cellphone, your children have a cellphone. You have your hair done every week.”She asked Minister Blakeney whether the Financial Assistance Department had measures in place to prevent such abuse.“How long is one allowed to be on Financial Assistance? I’m talking about those young people that have never set foot in the working environment but enjoying life to the fullest.”The Minister explained that the Financial Assistance criteria were “very rigid” and included an initial assessment and signing an honesty form.Once deemed eligible the client is initially given financial assistance for three months. Clients also have to go to Labour and Training for more assessment. And repatriating Bermudians have to wait a year before they can be eligible for assistance, the Minister said.“There have been a few people who have as a result of being discovered in breach of the strict criteria, suspended.”A first breach results in a three month suspension, and a second breach will get the client suspended for six months.“How do you do that when there is a mother with a two year old or a two month old? How do you find that balance when they still have to eat?”The Minister said that the Department depended on members of the public giving them information on abusers.“We’re very cognisant of the loopholes and we try to plug them as they are discovered, but I can assure you that the example that you have given is probably an anomaly because there aren’t many people with four, five and six children on Financial Assistance.”Earlier the audience had heard that the Financial Assistance budget allocation had been increased by 45 percent.In her closing statement, Premier Cox said that she was optimistic about the future. “Bermuda still has a very fragile recovery period over the next two years or so,” she said.“There are some seeds of growth but certainly over the next 18 to 24 months we should be starting to kick on all fours. But even now there are some interesting and exciting aspects.”She said that Tourism Minister Wayne Furbert had concluded a “key discussion” with a union on how to encourage development by bringing the cost of tourism down.“Bermuda is a magnet for international business but we also need is to make sure that we are not just a one-legged economy. International business can go wherever, but we want to have an anchor for our people and tourism is the great leveller. So I think the future can be so bright if people took advantage of the opportunities for training and retraining.”But Ms Cox said that some waiter positions were going vacant because not enough people were taking advantage of the waiter/server training programmes.“These are areas where you are guaranteed a job once you complete it,” she said.“We can provide the opportunities, we don’t create the jobs but we can provide the opportunities. But it is still up to the people to decide whether they want to take advantage of them.”