Radical decisions on revision of authorities may be announced - PM

Radical decisions on a revision of the structures and operations of national authorities which administer EU funds may be announced in the new future, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said today.

The decisions, he said, would be taken on the basis of the lessons learnt from the circumstances which led the EU to suspend funds allocated to Malta for education programmes.

Dr Gonzi was speaking during the debate on the no-confidence motion in Education Minister Dolores Cristina, filed by the Opposition after the EU suspended the education programme funds.

He said the funds for the education programmes had been suspended, not lost, and the government was working to recover them as soon as possible.

In the meantime, sacrifices had to be made and taxpayers’ money had to be used to ensure that young people were not badly affected. Dr Gonzi said he did not agree with criticism by the opposition that this should not be the solution.

He said that another lesson learnt from the issue was that the auditing culture in the country should be respected. Criticism should be accepted and not combated.

It was also clear that we one could not retain systems where there was a break-down in communication, he said.