Finance Minister Tonio Fenech has insisted that the Auditor General's report on the controversial Delimara power station contract found "no irregularities" for which anyone had to shoulder responsibility.

"The auditor did not find any irregularities. What he said was that he found shortcomings which he put on the level of a lack of experience or a lack of coordination," Mr Fenech told The Times when questioned.

"There is no doubt about it. The auditor's report does not indicate Enemalta made the wrong choice or that it should have chosen another company. So I don't think one can talk in terms of there being someone who needs to take responsibility," he said.

Mr Fenech stressed that the Auditor simply made a number of recommendations which the government should now make it a point to take on.

Asked if he should call for a police investigation in light of the Auditor's claims that certain stakeholders did not cooperate with his investigation, Mr Fenech said it was not up to the government to take such action.

"Ask the police. Did you read the report? Then I think the police did too. I don't see why I should give (the report) to them myself. The most important statement is that there was no corruption or irregularities," Mr Fenech said.

He added that one of the men accused of lack of cooperation, Joseph Mizzi - the Maltese agent of the winner of the contract, Danish company BWSC - was a private person, not a government employee.

Separately, Enemalta chairman Alex Tranter yesterday described the Auditor's assertion as "not only gratuitous but also explicitly contrary to the Enemalta Act as well as the Code of Ethics approved by Cabinet".

In the report, the Auditor says Mr Tranter should have resigned because of a conflict of interest, as he also had links with a contractor involved in civil works for one of the bids.

Mr Tranter said he had appointed the Evaluation and Adjudication Committee in line with the prevailing practice, which had been in place for several years. He also kept the ministry informed of the appointments being made and any subsequent amendments.

The appointment of the committee was made before anyone even knew who would express an interest and a full year before the tendering stage.