The government has received 29 reports under the Protection of the Whistleblower Act, but it remains unclear how many the authorities have considered.

The Justice Ministry told the Times of Malta the government had been approached by an average of seven whistleblowers a year. However, it stopped short of saying what the reports were about and how many had resulted in investigations or court action.

The bulk of the reports came in the second half of the legislature, and only two had been made by the end of 2014.

This newspaper requested a list of whistleblower complaints over the past four years categorised by the government entities they were filed with.

The Justice Ministry, which is also responsible for culture and local government, and the Social Solidarity Ministry, responsible for housing and social benefits, received the highest number of reports – seven each.

The Office of the Prime Minister was approached by four prospective whistleblowers, while the Health Ministry had five.

Back in 2015, this newspaper reported that one whistleblower, a Libyan national, had written to the Health Ministry to blow the cover on an alleged racket linked to medical visas. The official implicated in the racket was moved to another department after police investigations did not find adequate information about what was being claimed.

The Transport Ministry got one whistleblower complaint, and the Gozo Ministry had three.

The most prominent Gozo whistleblowing case involved evidence of alleged wrongdoing by the husband of former Gozo minister Giovanna Debono.

The information supplied by contractor Joseph Cauchi, who has since won a number of government contracts, made it into the public domain earlier this year. It is known that the two informants also raised matters involving the State, but no details have surfaced so far.

According to the Justice Ministry, another two reports were also lodged with the External Whistleblowing Unit, but no details were given.

This newspaper asked for a breakdown of the number of calls received by a special whistleblower helpline, but no information was forthcoming. A ministry spokesman said the helpline did not receive complaints but only gave out information.

“While statistics were, of course, not formally held with regard to each and every single request for information, the ministry is informed that the amount of requests was substantial,” the spokesman said.

In 2014, this newspaper repor-ted 48 reports had been filed with the helpline. At the time, 27 could not be followed up, because they were outside the scope of the law. Eighteen of the cases were related to the public sector, and three to the private sector, while the rest were excluded because the whistleblower law only applies to people in employment.

Seven reports concerned Enemalta employees’ tampering with about 1,000 utility meters. There were 11 reports, legally referred to as cases of “internal disclosure”, directly handled by the whistleblower reporting officer in the respective ministry.

Three cases concerned “external disclosure”, as they were filed by employees in the private sector, where no structure was in place to process such reports.

Under the Whistleblower Act, enacted at the start of this legislature, the identity of any employee who comes forward to report improper behaviour or  corruption cannot be disclosed.

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