I am writing this in the aftermath of the shocking news that, following the results of an in-depth inquiry, three officials within the Ministry of Education have unwillingly tendered their resignation. The report was, and possibly still is available in a PDF file on The Times website along with the news item of last Thursday, June 3.

Although the resignations of Mauro Pace Parascandalo, Christopher Bezzina and Robert Tabone were accepted, the same officials stated in their letters that they do not agree with the conclusions of the report and had offered their resignation without prejudice towards any action they decide to take in future.

Pandora's Box is now well and truly opened. I find it inconceivable how the entire Education Ministry cannot accept full responsibility for allowing this situation to develop since August last year, leading to the EU scholarship funds being cut off pending further investigation. Accepting the resignation of these three officials seems to be too easy, too glib and too cut and dried to be true. Can one really believe that, since August, only these three officials had any idea about the EU's dissatisfaction about how things were being conducted? Can one really believe that no other member of the EU programmes agency staff had the gumption to alert the minister that the situation was so serious? Can one really believe that this was as much of a bolt out of the blue as it appears? I frankly do not.

In the months preceding the 2003 referendum, I had warned that joining the EU will entail as many responsibilities and obligations as it has benefits. I had observed time and again that, unlike the way we were when a British Crown Colony, there was no deus ex macchina to save us should things go pear-shaped as they did when last year Italy proceeded to bully us mercilessly over the immigration issue without anyone in Brussels batting an eyelid.

I was, of course, convinced that the government knew what it was doing and that all the rules and regulations issued in tsunamis of paper from Brussels would be strictly adhered to. Like many of you, I was convinced, and would still like to be convinced, that the present government was, and still is, fully aware of the obligations of membership. However, when one thinks of what the government is doing (or not doing) about pollution and tapping sources of alternative energy for instance, that conviction starts to waver somewhat.

While I remain as constant as the Northern Star in my belief that EU membership is the best thing for us, I feel it is about time that we, the people, demand more transparency concerning issues that affect our health even more than our pockets. Things like the Delimara power station extension must be questioned and questioned again. No stone must be left unturned to ensure that this decision was taken in our best interest. Where, when and how this embarrassing imbroglio about the EU suspension of the Youth in Action and Life Long Learning Programmes developed must never be allowed to happen again... ever.

With what is going on at Gozo Channel Company with "whistleblower" Captain Mario Grech I am not surprised that nobody within the Education Department dared squeak about any irregularities they may have noticed. With what is happening to Capt. Grech I would be very surprised indeed if, in future, anyone in the civil service or employee of any parastatal company will dare snitch should they realise that procedures are not being followed and guidelines not respected. Capt. Grech's fate still lies in the balance. He may come out of this smelling of roses or stinking of the proverbial excrement. I would not like to be in his shoes for all the cheeselets in Gozo.

Above all, I find it inconceivable how anyone thought he could get away with something like this. The mind boggles. When one thinks that the population of nearby Catania at the end of 2007 was 752,895 and ours is 400,000 I really cannot understand how Malta needs more "administration" than that of cities like this and larger; all of which are organised by a mayor and councillors ensconced within a town hall. We, on the other hand, require a House of Representatives with an army of functionaries called the civil service, which, despite all the goodwill of successive governments, remains, like the Royal Dukes, "the damnedest millstones about the neck of any government that can be imagined".

Apart from being blissfully unaware of the insignificance of our size in relation to other EU member states, congenitally we are a most extraordinary people full of the most eccentrically-quixotic contradictions and governed by questionable ethics that make very little logical sense. The latest practically nationwide defiance born out of outright incomprehension of the Catholic Church's ruling about cohabitating couples and Holy Communion is a case in point.

The Church and the EU are only different insofar as reparation is concerned. While the Church warns of our having to make reparation for our sins in the hereafter, the EU will exact it here and now, so we had better get used to it and learn to dance to its tune. Before we go all defensive every time the EU bureaucrats rap our knuckles for our sins of omission that are, no doubt, caused by the sirocco, let us think again about how we can foster a greater sense of correctness and efficiency in our civil service in order to avoid situations like this from ever occurring again.