Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday insisted that Education Minister Dolores Cristina was not informed about the correspondence with the European Commission about mismanagement in the office that deals with EU student funds.

An inquiry ordered by Prime Minister into the Commission's suspension of funds placed the blame on three officials for not raising the alarm with those higher in political office, as they were legally bound to do, and for not rectifying the problems quickly enough.

The board of inquiry also noted in its report that a meeting with the minister was held last November 17 and that the issue could have been resolved as late as March but this did not happen.

The opposition has called for Mrs Cristina's resignation, saying she knew about the Commission's misgivings but did not act fast enough. Labour also said that if the minister was not aware of what was going on, the situation was even more worrying.

Questioned by journalists after a political activity yesterday, Dr Gonzi curtly said the opinion that Mrs Cristina was aware of the misgivings was "based on a lie".

During the political activity, where he met elderly people living at a Mellieħa home opened last year, he said that what happened was "unacceptable" and "very worrying" because €4 million for young people were in jeopardy.

He said action was being taken to prove to the Commission that the suspension could now be lifted, while alternative arrangements had already been made for 140 students and more alternatives were being sought.

Dr Gonzi said there was, however, a silver lining in all of this, in that it made everyone more aware of the importance of such projects and the need to use the money efficiently and properly.

He said that, whereas many other countries were introducing austerity measures, Malta continued to spend money on launching new projects for the elderly.

He thanked the Church for its contribution and said that, in future, there would not only be public-private partnerships in this field but also public-private-Church partnerships. Earlier, Dr Gonzi presented a new set of colours to the Salesian Brigade to mark its centenary.

Dr Gonzi referred to the brigade's motto - Never Give Up In The Face Of Evil - and said that the brigade should continue to stick to the values it believed in, adding that society needed to keep its eyes open to other realities occurring today.