Excerpts from Monday’s EP Budgetary Committee Hearing
MEP Ayala Sender
As far as the articles in the press are concerned, I would like you to clarity this. The Press talks about €4 billion [sic*] contact for vocational training – what percentage of your contacts was spent in your constituency? So those are the questions that I wanted to ask you.
Louis Galea
… Regarding the letter to the article, unfortunately it was an article reproducing allegations that have proved to be totally unfounded. I could give to the President of the Commitee a copy of the memo I’ve prepared, so that if you feel, you can also have a copy.
The article refers to two cases. One of those cases goes to 23 years ago. This was a case which was thoroughly investigated and examined by our National Audit Office. In their report, which was published, there is no single reference to me personally. In that report refers to certain weakness, because this was a new programme, a new scheme; it needed qualified personnel to manage it. But the National Audit Office absolutely did not find any single evidence or remark that could be negative in my regard.
This case was also thouroghly investigated by another independent commission established by law –The Permanent Commission Against Corruption -- and its conclusions were extremely categorical. In its report, the Commission concluded was no shred of evidence that I had been involved in any illegal or irregular act, even less corruption.
On the contrary, it showed that I as a Minister, was never involved in the day-to-day management of these programmes, intruded on the managerial discretion of the programme or that I have overturned any decision. It is very clear from that report that I acted as Minister, giving general direction, the general policy direction, the general strategic direction. I was exercising supervisory control. And when the NAO remarked on a number of deficiencies, what I did was to ensure that head of department responsible, the Director of Labour, put in place all necessary control, which was done.
In the second case, this was a case that was raised in the newspaper again. That was again examined by National Audit Office, Even in this case, when you read it, the NAO does not make even one single reference to me personally. Some ten years ago, we had just set up a Foundation for Tomorrow’s Schools. It was a new organisation. What was investigated was the first year of operation. When you are stting a new organisation, until it settles down, it could have some administrative weaknesses. And because of these administrative weaknesses you could have some deficiencies and some errors.
I have to categorically state that I never involved myself in any awarding of any contract whatsoever All contacts as far I am concerned were awarded according to the procurement regulations of our country. Where people have been found to have been investigated after due process of our country have been found to have infringe regulations, in this case, for instance, the Chief Executive Officer was dismissed.
98 per cent of the four million costs were fixed costs of wages. This is being thrown irresponsibly around! You cannot commit any irregularity if what you do is paying wages. In Malta is still I would make percentage definitively come under 2 per cent.
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The need to grill Two recent developments have underscored the gulf of difference that separates Malta from the rest of Europe: the first involved the recent hearings before the European Parliament to approve Barroso’s second Commission; the second was last Monday’s ‘grilling’ of Louis Galea by the European Parliament’s budgetary committee.....>>
