Auditor General Charles Deguara this evening expressed concern with what he called “the happy-go-lucky attitude” that the civil service has towards administration.

Speaking before the House Public Accounts Committee, Mr Deguara said the vast majority of government departments were very good at their main function, but their “cavalier attitude” towards control belied the fact that they were collectively responsible for significant amounts of government assets.

The meeting was discussing the Auditor General’s 2015 report on general expenditure and personal emoluments within the Department of Contracts, which falls under the Ministry of Finance.

Committee chair Tonio Fenech observed that the majority of issues raised within this section of the audit were to do with the lack of an “environment of control”.

Identified discrepancies, which were common across all government departments and not restricted to the Contracts Department, included lax controls on the use of vehicles, inadequate inventory control, and the lack of a unified system to monitor civil service emoluments. Mr Fenech said these issues had been remedied or were in the process of being remedied, but the lack of human resources remained a problem.

The meeting was told that the Director General of the Department of Contracts took immediate action to remedy situations brought to his attention.