A question of salaries
In a recent interview with Dr. Lawrence Gonzi, TV presenter Mark Laurence Zammit questioned the former prime minister about his administration’s subtle increase in the honoraria paid to appointed ministers.
Whilst acknowledging that the previous PN administration might have been quite insensitive in the way that increase was conducted, it surely triggered repercussions in various ways till the present day, not only political, but also in the upgrading of our public service.
Almost a year ago the editor of another section of the local press, in discussing the appointment of a Maltese representative on the European Public Prosecutor Office (a post which has since been filled), emphasised that finding three suitable candidates of the right calibre ‘may genuinely be stretching the country’s capacity’ but goes on to say that ‘…European pay and conditions are generous.’ Indeed they are and rightly so if each member state wants to ensure that whatever mode of regulation is put in place, the most competent and high calibre people are engaged.
The question of salaries in the local context is a perennial issue and will re-surface time and time again. Not least in the recent appointment of the State Attorney, the salary of which has been revised to be commensurate with what one
As the country was yearning for a new police commissioner to instil the much needed public confidence in its operations, the issue of salaries had been touted by one of the then contenders for this position.
would earn roughly in industry and which is capped within the legislation itself. The revamp of the office of State Attorney was one of various initiatives carried out by the present government to address the recommendations put forward by the Venice Commission. It became clearly evident that unless a competitive salary is offered the whole process would be futile.
In a contribution by the late Lino Spiteri a decade ago, while discussing this matter he highlighted that ‘the underlying explanation, of course, is that civil service pay has gone out of kilter with the rest of the economy and that relativities – ratios of pay to each other – have become far too compressed.’ Notwithstanding, that ten years have gone by and, unfortunately, the situation is roughly the same with a few exceptions such as the recent appointment of the State Attorney.
As the country was yearning for a new police commissioner to instil the much needed public confidence in its operations, the issue of salaries had been touted by one of the then contenders for this position. In a contribution of hers, my colleague in academia, Dr. Maria Muscat rendered that the pegged salary of €42,827 to be a ‘contentious issue’, going on to say that ‘…this might mean the world for the public service, but it’s a joke for the police.’
It is clearly evident that there is now a whole spectrum of salaries which in essence are not necessarily commensurate with the level of responsibility, albeit with the competences possessed by the candidate. The situation is even exacerbated by the different salary structures operated by different government authorities. One may question whether there is logical sense in an authority’s CEO being paid more than the nation’s Prime Minister. Having said that, I am in full support that salaries have to be revised within the public service if we do want to attract the right talent for the key posts.
More so with regards to our parliamentary representatives. In early 2020 there had been calls by our current President of Malta, Dr. George Vella, for engaging our members of parliament on a full-time basis - meaning that they have to be adequately remunerated. In doing so, our back-benchers as well as members of the Opposition will then be able to fulfil their duties even more within the respective committees, thereby ensuring that we have more rigorous legislation going through parliament. This would be another milestone in strengthening our democracy, but there has to be a nationwide consensus that the time is ripe to revisit the salary structures of those engaged in the public service.