National Audit Office staff members should not be influenced by controversies that emerged as they carried out their duties as "guardians of the public purse", outgoing Speaker Louis Galea said yesterday.
Dr Galea was speaking during a visit to Auditor General Anthony Mifsud on the eve of his resignation as Speaker of the House as he prepares to take on his role as member of the European Court of Auditors in Luxembourg on May 7.
He also paid a farewell visit to Ombudsman Joseph Said Pullicino, who, like the Auditor General, was an official appointed by Parliament.
"You should not allow yourselves to be influenced or inhibited by public controversy... I see nothing wrong with such controversy... It is an integral part of the process of verification carried out by this office," Dr Galea told the NAO staff.
He must have been referring to the Auditor General's report on the controversial Delimara power station extension contract between Danish company BWSC and Enemalta Cooperation.
While the Auditor General's investigation found no "hard evidence" of corruption, it indicated a number of shortcomings.
The Auditor General said people who had been working at the office for many years told him "there was never such an extensive and complicated report to date" as the Delimara one.
While thanking Dr Galea for his political contribution, Mr Mifsud said that since he has been serving as Auditor General, the independence of the National Audit Office was respected by both sides of the House.
Dr Galea stressed on the importance of the NAO's independence.
"A Parliament that has no means to scrutinise the public administration would not be fulfilling its public function," Dr Galea said.
He said he had no doubt that investors, both foreign and local, took into account the fact that Malta's government had a strong accountability structure.
"Mistakes are made in all countries. Things that should not happen, happen in all countries. What's important is that there is a system in place that scrutinised these issues in the public interest," he said.
Accountability was also raised during Dr Galea's meeting with the Ombudsman.
Dr Galea praised the Ombudsman's work in ensuring transparency and justice within the public administration.
Dr Said Pullicino pointed out that Parliament should make political decisions to determine in which cases should the Ombudsman's recommendations be implemented. There were times when public authorities found it difficult to implement such recommendations.
Last month, the Ombudsman presented Dr Galea with a report noting that the autonomy public entities (such as the Central Bank and the Malta Environment and Planning Authority) should enjoy vis-à-vis the central administration did not give them complete freedom to ignore government policies, such as family-friendly measures and employment procedures.