Prime Minister Joseph Muscat made 109 trips abroad in his 50 months in power, costing taxpayers over €1.1 million.
Some of the trips, particularly to Libya, were paid by the hosting government, however others, including when he was accompanied by his wife and her assistants, were funded by the State.
Information compiled from parliamentary questions and following requests under the Freedom of Information Act shows Dr Muscat’s most expensive trip was made in September 2015, when he visited New York for the UN General Assembly.
Accompanied by his wife, Michelle, and another nine officials, including his chief of staff, Keith Schembri, and Phyllis Muscat, at the time head of the CHOGM organising committee, Dr Muscat’s trip to the Big Apple cost €80,300.
Other costly overseas visits were made last February, when a tour of European capitals cost €79,600. A trip to Finland and Mongolia in July 2016 ran up a bill of €76,614, and the Exchequer paid €42,644 for a trip to China in July 2014, which also included Ms Muscat.
On average, Dr Muscat travelled abroad on official trips once every two weeks in his four-year term. Sources at the Office of the Prime Minister told this newspaper that although it was normal for the head of government to travel abroad frequently, the number of such trips by Dr Muscat was significantly higher than his predecessors.
Dr Muscat was almost always accompanied by Mr Schembri when he attended 11 events organised by the private consultancy firm Henley & Partners promoting Malta’s cash-for-passports scheme.
On her part, Mrs Muscat accompanied the Prime Minister on 12 occasions, four of them to New York.
On these trips, she took her children and one of her personal assistants.
On one occasion, Dr and Mrs Muscat also spent some time in Canada to visit Maltese expats.
According to the Office of the Prime Minister, Dr Muscat personally paid the expenses related to his children.
While on almost every official trip, the Prime Minister was always accompanied by members of the media – usually a crew from State television station PBS – this did not happen when he, together with Mr Schembri and then energy minister Konrad Mizzi visited Azerbaijan in December 2014.
On that occasion, no civil servants or ambassadors accompanied Dr Muscat, as per the usual protocol.
The trip to Baku cost €6,183.
ivan.camilleri@timesofmalta.com