Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia said this evening his failure to declare his earnings last year in the ministerial declaration of assets was due to a misunderstanding.

He said he had been told that since he had not been a Member of Parliament last year he did not have to include last year’s income.

However, since the controversy erupted he asked for the record to be amended, he said, adding that last year he earned €137,000.

Asked about the €500,000 in cash he declared he had, the minister said this was because he had disposed of some property he had owned.

The minister was speaking after he presided over a press conference at the Corradino Correctional Facilities, where an EU funded training programme was launched.

The programme was piloted by the Paola council and will see some 180 inmates applying for courses with MCAST.

The courses will be held at the CCF and the idea is to enable inmates to integrate back into the labour market after they leave prison.

Dr Mallia siad it was the government commitment to help in the reform of prisoners

Research conducted by the University’s Criminology Department showed that more than 80 per cent of employers were not ready to employ former inmates citing lack of trust as the main reason.

Commenting on this figure, Education Minister Evarist Bartolo said he believed this was also a reflection of the rest of society and such training courses helped to change perception.