The Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition engaged in a spirited exchange in parliament this evening after Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi was asked to explain on what grounds he had stopped the engagement of a former police inspector on a €60,000 Enemalta job, while his own wife was paid €13,000 a month.
The issue arose after it was revealed in parliament yesterday that the former police inspector was medically boarded out from the police force within four days, and immediately landed a €60,000 consultancy job with Enemalta's audit unit.
Replying to questions by Nationalist MP Claudette Buttigieg, Dr Mizzi said that as soon as he learnt about the case, he directed Enemalta's chairman to stop the engagement. He felt it was unacceptable that a person who had been medically boarded out should be given an immediate job of this nature. This, he said, was not what the government stood for.
Ms Buttigieg asked Dr Mizzi what he 'stood for' in view of the fact that his own wife was getting €13,000 a month when no one knew what she was doing in China.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said the Opposition would soon see the results of Mrs Mizzi's work. He said Mrs Mizzi was being paid as much as an ambassador. Ms Buttigieg in the past herself used to get €13,000 from Super One, he said. (Ms Buttigieg later denied earning that much and said the money she earned was through a private business venture not from public funds.)
Continuing, Dr Muscat said he did not wish to speak in this way, but the attack on Mrs Mizzi was personal.
Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said the opposition's criticism was based on the fact that Mrs Mizzi was a minister's wife, engaged without a public call, and the results of her activities was not known.
If Dr Mizzi felt it was unacceptable for Enemalta to engage former Inspector Zammit for €60,000 why did he not feel it unacceptable for his own wife to continue on a contract of €13,000 a month from taxpayers’ money?
Dr Muscat said it was 'not on' that a medically boarded out person, eligible for certain benefits, was given a job in this manner.
Dr Busuttil asked if there had been a public call for the post offered to the former inspector at Enemalta.
Dr Mizzi said Mr Zammit was engaged for consultancy services on theft of electricity in Enemalta's audit division. The fundamental issue was not his engagement, but the fact that Mr Zammit had been boarded out as unfit for work in the police and then engaged by Enemalta.
Dr Busuttil again asked Dr Mizzi how he saw nothing wrong in the fact that his wife had a €13,000 a month contract. If it was wrong to engage somebody with a salary of €60,000, wasn’t it wrong to engage his wife?
Dr Muscat said the issue was not the salary. He did not know how much Dr Busuttil was paid as head of MIC through direct engagement. The issue was that a person had been medically boarded out and had immediately been given another job.
The minister's wife would be judged by results in the same way as relatives and members of the former government were given consultancies and government positions and retained them when they assumed an executive position.
People were chosen on merit in the same way as Dr Busuttil had been chosen to head MIC.
Dr Busuttil said he was making it clear that under a future PN government, no minister's spouses would be engaged without a public call.
How did Dr Muscat know that Mrs Mizzi was the best for her role when no call was made?
Dr Muscat said he knew as much as Lawrence Gonzi when he saw his cousin as the best man to run the Foundation for Medical Services, for example.
Dr Busuttil said the person the prime minister had referred to was paid €7,000 per year and he was not the spouse of a minister. Once the prime minister expected results, what results had Mrs Mizzi achieved? Nothing had been seen in two years, when she was paid a quarter of a million.
Dr Muscat said Dr Busuttil was therefore judging a person before seeing results. Mrs Mizzi was getting less than Dr Busuttil's €1 million in contracts. Mrs Mizzi was being paid the same as ambassadors and less than Richard Cachia Caruana. The coming weeks would show the results of Mrs Mizzi's work.
Dr Busuttil said he never took €1 million from direct orders, that was a lie. And Mrs Mizzi had achieved nothing like what Mr Cachia Caruana had achieved for the country, including billions in euro from the EU.
Dr Muscat said the Leader of the Opposition would shortly receive an invitation to attend an activity which would show one of Mrs Mizzi's achievements.