Attn, attakk fahxi: Nefqa ta’ €112,796 fuq ikliet u parties fl-2009 biss

Dawn huma fatti. Ghall-Oppozizzjoni dan jikkostitwixxi attakk fahxi.

Malta Today online;

The finance ministry spent a whopping €112,766 on meals and parties in 2009 alone, information tabled by Finance Minister Edward Scicluna in parliament shows.

Under Tonio Fenech, the finance ministry also spent €92,248 on similar expenses in 2008, €45,834 in 2010, €19,430 in 2011, and €22,345 in 2012, €19,430 in 2011.

However, the information tabled by Scicluna at the request of Labour MP Anthony Agius Decelis indicates that the ministry’s expenditure on parties and meals has declined significantly following the change in government. Indeed, it only spent €2,928 last year, €7,702 in 2014 and €14,310 in 2013.

“The previous administration had operated under the assumption that money was no problem, while the current one is far more careful on the way it spends public funds,” Scicluna said, at which Opposition MPs invoked the Café Premier and Gaffarena expropriation scandals.

Opposition MP Censu Galea challenged Scicluna to claim outright that the finance ministry under the previous Nationalist administration abused public funds on meals and parties.

However, the minister was coy in his response, arguing “that it would depend on the MP’s definition of abuse”.

Independent online;

Parliamentary question time during this morning’s session was taken up by the grilling of Finance Minister Edward Scicluna after a claim that the previous administration abused from public funds to take out delegations to dinners and organise parties.

This claim was rebutted by a number of supplementary questions by Nationalist MPs Censu Galea and Ryan Callus.

Opposition MPs were asking the Minister to clarify what he meant by ‘abuse of public funds’ during the PN administration. Ryan Callus said it was very worrying to hear the Minister of Finance speaking of free lunches and dinners while at the same time, declaring that he did not dwell into the details of this spending.

Censu Galea reiterated that it was clear that the Minister did not have a clear indication of public fund’s abuse.

Finance Minister Scicluna said that abuse of public funds to organise parties and dinners will not happen under his watch.

“This is reflective of this government. We do not throw away public money.”

He said that “money no problem” was the PN’s administration syndrome while explaining that the Ministry has no problem in publishing the whole list of money spent on dinners and parties.

Prof Scicluna claimed that between 2008 and 2015, some €366,000 of public funds were spent on dinners and celebrations. However, Censu Galea insisted that this number was incorrect.

The Minister said he will be checking with the Ministry and present the total in a separate session.