Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s speechwriter has been given another job – consultant to Malta Enterprise.

Dr Muscat’s private secretariat often contracted Leslie Skipper to prepare the Prime Minister’s speeches. His name was also among those who were given direct orders by Malta Enterprise last year to assist in its public relations efforts targeting the British market.

According to the list, published in The Malta Government Gazette, Mr Skipper’s 12-month contract started in December and will earn him about €37,000. Mr Skipper, a former BBC journalist, also used to advise Dr Muscat when he was Opposition leader. Soon after Labour’s win in the 2013 polls, he was put on a government retainer, working directly from the Office of the Prime Minister. He was also roped in to assist PBS on the marketing of Malta’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest.

The list of direct orders awarded by Malta Enterprise last year shows that The Daily Telegraph was paid €58,000 for a promotional article on Malta. Malta Enterprise paid €14,500 per page for the four-page article on the British newspaper, which, has a circulation of below 500,000 copies.

Other Malta Enterprise direct orders include a €6,000-a year contract for advice on human resources by Cory Greenland, a former General Workers’ Union official, and a similar contract to Philomena Meli, Malta’s non-resident ambassador and a board member of the Central Bank of Malta. Ms Meli’s contract is for six months for services related to institutional networks of the Mediterranean region.