Every minister and parliamentary secretary has ignored criticism by Nationalist backbencher Jean-Pierre Farrugia about the way they pocketed the rise in their salaries two-and-a-half years before their colleagues and the public were informed.

Contacted individually, each minister and parliamentary secretary replied in the same way, each insisting the decision was public, citing an article featured in MaltaToday in 2008.

The article had said ministers would be able to keep their honoraria, which is paid to other MPs, but did not mention the increase in honoraria, which ministers have been pocketing since 2008.

Each minister and parliamentary secretary was asked whether they were aware they had been receiving an upwardly-revised honorarium while their colleagues on the backbench were not. They were also asked to react to Dr Farrugia’s claims of unfairness.

However, they chose to focus on explaining why they de-served to keep an extra €26,771 per year:

“Until 2008, ministers and parliamentary secretaries had to forfeit their remuneration for the work they performed in Parliament. The parliamentary honorarium is paid to cover duties performed in Parliament; this is different to work performed as a minister or parliamentary secretary.

“The remuneration is public and has been discussed and commented about in the media since 2008. The Opposition Whip had also commented in favour, in an article in MaltaToday entitled Ministers Deserve A Pay Rise, Labour Whip (December 2008).”

They added their income was public and tabled every year in Parliament. The Office of the Prime Minister refused to make public the minutes of the May 2008 Cabinet meeting in which the rises were said to have been discussed.

“It is an established practice that Cabinet discussions are undertaken in camera and, thus, Cabinet minutes are not published. The confidentiality of discussions and Cabinet documents is regulated by law and the Code of Ethics. However, I can confirm that this decision and the details of the full package were all discussed and approved by Cabinet,” an OPM spokesman said. Asked whether the Prime Minister would be meeting Dr Farrugia to quell his criticism, the spokesman said: “Issues discussed with members of Parliament or with the parliamentary group are internal matters.”

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said on a TV programme late on Thursday night he would be trying to meet Dr Farrugia over the matter.