What is particularly sad in the controversy that has arisen over employment in the public sector and, also, over employment in general, are the aspersions cast on the credibility of the National Statistics Office by people who are always only too willing to ascribe political motives to errors.

No statistics agency anywhere is perfect and, while the NSO’s recent errors are most unfortunate and regrettable, a sense of balance has to be struck. Generally speaking, the NSO has served Malta well, and the correction the Malta Statistics Authority made to an NSO comment should not diminish its standing, though it certainly ought to make it alert to the need of improving its services further.

If the controversy gave rise to a first-class muddle, the finance minister did not help to clarify matters either when he was first reported saying that the rise in the number of workers employed by the public sector had come about because of the reclassification of workers in construction. His argument was to the effect that, whereas in the past they were classified under the construction industry in the private sector, they are now classified as part of the government administration.

But the NSO head came out denying that the rise in the public sector workforce had come about because of the change in the way jobs were classified, arguing that no government employee had ever been classified in the private sector. He remarked: “This reclassification did not have a bearing on the overall size of the government workforce as it was carried out within the public sector. The employees who were reclassified from construction to public adminis-tration were and remain public sector employees.”

The Malta Statistics Authority said that had there not been this reclassification, employment in public administration, defence, and compulsory social security would have risen by 265 full-time employees. Obviously mindful of the muddle that has been created by the claims and counter-claims, Finance Minister Edward Scicluna wrote a lengthy piece in this newspaper pointing out that it was the private sector, not the public sector, that was the driving force behind the rise in employment in general.

He pointed out that year-on-year changes reported for April this year showed that, of the 5,339 net increase in jobs, only 1,033 were in the public sector. The rest, 4,306, were generated by the private sector. The figure would presumably include Arriva workers, now taken on by the government, and the additional employees in the State health and education sectors. But shouldn’t the government compensate for this rise by trimming other sectors at least?

It is not enough for the minister to say the government was watchful to ensure that public sector employment does not go over its current share. Many would argue that its share in the total work-force ought to be reduced in any case, not kept as it is or, worse, rise in proportion to the number of people entering the labour market.

The Labour government has given the worst possible example in this regard as it has chosen to expand the size of Cabinet, besides giving jobs to backbenchers. The finance minister said the government was “rightfully proud that the private sector was the driving force behind Malta’s economic growth”.

God forbid the situation is otherwise for, had this been the case, the likelihood is that the country would not have made the kind of progress it has achieved through private enterprise operating in a free market economy.

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