Updated 7.06pm with Labour Party's reaction below.
Nationalist shadow ministers on Monday hit out at comments by the social welfare minister who put the long-term future of pensions in doubt.
The PN said the comments come despite government revenue from social security contributions having doubled in 10 years.
Ivan Bartolo, the shadow minister for pensions, told a press conference that former prime minister Joseph Muscat and his successor Robert Abela used to argue that the high number of foreign workers in Malta - and the resultant increase in social security contributions - guaranteed the future of pensions.
But all that had turned out to be lies and empty words, Bartolo said.
Social Welfare Minister Michael Falzon, speaking at a conference on March 6, urged people to invest in private pension plans, warning that a demographic shift to an aging population could impact the public pension system.
"With the current (demographic) rates, we need to talk about private pension schemes. Some people may say we are admitting defeat and that we won't be able to provide for our people in 20 years," Falzon said. "But it's not a question of putting up the white flag. It's a question of facing realities, which do not go away if your head is in the sand," he added.
Bartolo, accompanied by the shadow minister for social welfare Albert Buttigieg, and the shadow minister for social policy Stephen Spiteri, said the minister's comments reflected a failure by the government to plan ahead.
The country's coffers would be in a far better state had the government not squandered public funds, such as the €400 million given to Vitals/Steward, the €3.8 spent on a film festival, and €150,000 given to a host for a two-hour show, they said by way of examples.
In a reaction to the PN press conference, the Labour Party said a Labour government was not only a guarantee of pensions but a guarantee of better pensions.
It accused the PN of lies and said the Opposition should condemn the Gonzi government's decision to give a lower pension to those born before 1962, a situation which was now being rectified.