After being fired from his role as Chair of the Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST), Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando was given a new €70,000 annual retainer.
A former PN MP who turned Labour as soon as disgraced former prime minister Joseph Muscat took the helm at Castille in 2013, Pullicino was retained in the post of MCST Chair until he was asked to step down last October by Parliamentary Secretary Keith Tanti.
His removal followed a damning NAO report that found mismanagement and possible abuse in direct orders awarded on Pullicino Orlando’s watch.
But after being fired, he was given a full-time role as the executive chairman of a minor committee within the Education Ministry, called the ‘National Skills Council’ despite retaining his full-time private business – a dentistry clinic in Żebbuġ.
Through this appointment, Education Minister Clifton Grima ignored a directive issued by Prime Minister Robert Abela stating that executive chairmen or CEOs cannot have other jobs.
Pullicino Orlando’s new contract was tabled in parliament following a question by PN MP Karol Aquilina. It shows Pullicino Orlando is expected to work at least 40 hours weekly for the council.
Yet the time he must attend to his taxpayer-funded duties is conveniently not specified.
The new job, given for the next four years, will cost taxpayers a basic wage of €41,764 a year and includes several other perks.
A €12,000 allowance called ‘market corrective allowance’, a fully expensed car together with 150 litres of fuel a month, €1,600 in communications allowance, €2,096 as an expense allowance and an additional €6,205 performance bonus to be approved every year by the minister.
In total, taxpayers will be paying Pullicino Orlando over €70,000 a year.
The minister refused to reply to questions on how Pullicino Orlando is expected to work full-time for the ministry while running his private dental practice.
Pullicino Orlando, 59, has been on a government salary while running his private business for the last 10 years.
Sign up to our newsletter Stay in the know
"*" indicates required fields
Eurovision: PBS hides mega spend on Aidan as promotion falls flat
Court freezes €1.4 million in assets belonging to former Labour MP Silvio Grixti
Outed: Ambassador nominee’s partner exposed as source behind leaked recordings targeting public official
Malta elections 2026: candidates, districts, and the battle for voters
Tags
#Education Minister Clifton Grima
#Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando
#Malta
#Malta Council for Science and Technology
#National Skills Council
#salary
Other News
Eurovision: PBS hides mega spend on Aidan as promotion falls flat
Court freezes €1.4 million in assets belonging to former Labour MP Silvio Grixti
Outed: Ambassador nominee’s partner exposed as source behind leaked recordings targeting public official
Malta elections 2026: candidates, districts, and the battle for voters
Calleja’s manager handed €163,000 direct order for Malta Day at Osaka Expo
€3 million in direct orders in place to tackle illegal moorings after elections
Minister’s canvasser handed €70,000 BCA role, never reported for duty
Bedingfield: details on recruitment of government cleaners ‘sensitive’
BOV grants Malita a €28 million lifeline loan to restart stalled housing projects
‘We intend to resist until the tide turns’ – NGOs on planning regime
Dodgy people and dodgy deals: Joseph Muscat tied to ‘fake and deeply troubling’ network
He will probably need to work on the weekends, public and Church holidays and sleep only five hours every other night.
The question that arises is. How can a person, who occupied a position within a government entity who had to step down due to a very damaging NAO report be given another post within another government agency costing the taxpayers ?70,000?
Looks like another ‘I can’t get no satisfaction’ in receiving money person.
After years of reading about PLers who look like stumbling over each one another in their persue for money by unsatisfiable greed, it has become more sickening by the day.
He is not the first – and will certainly not be the last to be so ‘rewarded’ for past ‘services’.
Market corrective allowance? What possible market can there be for JPO?
Dentista mixtri bil-flus mil-partit laburista biex waqqa’ l’gvern halli l-PL jakwistaw il-poter. Bhalu hemm ohrajn li gew mixtrija bil-flus biex ikissru lill partit nazzjonalista. Kollha responsabli ta’dittatura u l-kriminalita li hawn f’pajjizna bil-hila ta’ gahan mixtri bil-karawett
Typical fake job that leads to be incriminated in most EU countries.
Malta needs to implement such incrimination that would be a huge threat to those parasites.
Sounds like a bad, bad character. Very racist, incompetent and loose, too !
Gvern korrott mahluq ghal KORROTTI, HALLELIN U ASSASSINI
SHAME ON LL THOSE WHO
?70000 a year to Mistra Man after “the damning NAO report that found mismanagement and possible abuse in direct orders awarded under his watch”. How galling is that? This government is always against of what is right and proper!
u Clyde Caruana jeqred biex nibzaw ghal flus!!!
kaz ta l’id ix xellugija ma taf x’inhi taghmel l’id il leminija!
hanzir. missek tisthi
And the trough keeps giving it must be like the goose that keeps laying the golden eggs for the certain few?
Black market?
OMG. COME ON! EE ARE BEWILDERED WITH ROSAINNE? WHO THE HELL IS THIS GUY.
I REMEBER HIM CRYING AT A NATIONALIST ACTIVITY. WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS GUY? THE LABOUR PARTY SEEMS TO BE QUITE OBLIGED TO HIM. LIFE IS STRANGE.. BUT POLITICS IS ?????????.
Hniezer minn flus il poplu waqt li Clyde Caruana l vergni jghidilna li il gvern hemm bzonn jaqta l ispejjes ta xejn.
Is the Minister of Finance aware of this waste of public funds?