Economy Minister Chris Cardona and five members of his secretariat rack up an average monthly mobile phone bill of €657 each, according to information given to Parliament.

The ministry’s spend since April 2013 totalled €240,489.

Details on mobile phone spending by various ministries were given in reply to a parliamentary question tabled by Nationalist MP Claudette Buttigieg.

It also resulted from information given in Parliament that Dr Cardona’s ministry’s spending on foreign trips amounted to €466,680 over the same five-year period.

An analysis of mobile phone usage spending shows that the second highest bills per capita were accumulated by the Office of the Prime Minister. In this case, the 17 employees using mobile phones paid for by the government totted up an average monthly bill of €242 each.

Average monthly mobile phone bill of €657 each

Compared to these bills, the cost of top of the range monthly packages offered by local mobile phone companies pales in comparison. Such subscriptions offer unlimited calls and SMS use both in Malta and in all EU member states through the so-called roaming service for €100 a month or less.

The Economy Ministry spent nearly seven times this amount and twice as much in the case of the Prime Minister’s Office.

The parliamentary replies did not include a detailed breakdown of the bills.

However, the information shows very contrasting spending patterns across the Cabinet. The Social Solidarity Ministry, for example, spent just €43 per capita on mobile phone expenses for 41 people in the period under review. The figure comprises the parliamentary secretariats falling under the ministry.

The second lowest expenditure was by the Equality Ministry, with 13 members of the secretariat spending an average of €46 each a month.

No details were given by the Tourism Ministry except for the total average monthly expenditure: €942 between June 2017 and last month. It is not known how many members of the secretariat are eligible to a mobile phone.