The Health Ministry is continuing to shield disgraced selection board members who picked four under-qualified candidates for medical consultancy posts last year.
A ministry spokesman had originally said the names could not be named due to “data protection issues”; a claim immediately rebuffed by Data Protection Commissioner Joseph Ebejer.
The ministry subsequently changed its tune, telling The Times that since selection boards were appointed by the Public Service Commission on the ministry’s nomination, questions about the board had to be directed to the PSC.
Health Minister Joe Cassar said much the same when asked about the matter at a press conference last Friday, saying board members’ names were “public knowledge”.
A PSC spokesman said the Commission would consider revealing board members’ names during a meeting on Thursday.
The situation drew the Labour Party’s attention, which yesterday piled on the pressure, calling for the Ombudsman’s health commissioner – set to assume office this week – to investigate the refusal to make board members’ names public.
Saying it was in the public interest to know who the selection board members were, Labour public sector spokesman Helena Dalli argued that the commissioner’s office should investigate the matter of its own accord.
Both the PSC and Mr Ebejer, she noted, had criticised the government’s actions.
She also pointed to PSC criticism on the appointment of public sector individuals on the basis of trust.
Ministers are given leeway to appoint their secretariat staff directly, with the procedure justified by ministers’ need to have completely trustworthy staff close to them.
But in its 2011 annual report, the PSC raised an eyebrow at the discovery of “a number” of cases in which appointments on trust were made to fill regular public sector vacancies.
The commission went on to note that “the Constitution makes no provision for the engagement of staff in positions of trust, so the legality of this practice could be questionable”.
Dr Dalli voiced concern at the report’s findings. “When the government appoints people directly and refuses to name members of a public selection board, getting a public sector job becomes about who, rather what, you know.”
As the country’s biggest employer, the government had a duty to ensure transparency in the filling of public sector vacancies, she added.
“What sort of example is the government setting for the private sector?” Dr Dalli asked.