A total of 26 companies hit hard by the global recession have sought government aid, Finance Minister Tonio Fenech said in Parliament.

Of these, six were already benefitting from agreements reached with the government, Mr Fenech said. They had committed themselves to investing €13 million and increasing the number of jobs by 200 in all between this November and December 2010.

The six companies, mostly suppliers of manufactured parts to the car industry, employed more than 1,800 full-timers between them.

Mr Fenech confirmed that none of the arrangements with these companies had expired and none had asked for their respective agreement to be extended.

The minister was answering questions tabled by Labour finance spokesman Charles Mangion.

The plans of another five companies were being evaluated while eight had still to decide whether to submit proposals or were in the process of preparing the necessary documentation.

Mr Fenech said the last seven companies had forwarded plans that did not fall within the scope of the exercise and could not benefit from government aid.

In all cases approved to date, the government had agreed to finance the wages of employees for one day a week for a period of time that would be reserved for training purposes until the company brought over or invested in a new manufacturing line.

Other aid was in the form of income tax credits.