Mario Cutajar gets third pension top-up courtesy of Glenn Bedingfield

In addition to his substantial pension, former Principal Permanent Secretary Mario Cutajar has been awarded a third government top-up to his pension, this time by his long-time friend and Parliamentary Secretary for Cleanliness, Glenn Bedingfield.

Following his appointment as Heritage Malta Chairman and the payment of an extra privileged pension upon his retirement in 2022, The Shift can confirm that soon after he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Cleanliness earlier this year, Glenn Bedingfield awarded Cutajar a new contract to become his advisor.

Confirming Cutajar’s recruitment, a spokesperson for Bedingfield told The Shift that the 67-year-old is “best suited to advise Parliamentary Secretary Glenn Bedingfield on matters of public administration given his extensive experience in the public service.”

The friendship between Cutajar and Bedinfield dates back many years.

In 2008, when Bedingfield replaced disgraced former prime minister Joseph Muscat at the European Parliament in Brussels, he hired Cutajar as his political advisor, paid from EU coffers.

At the time, Cutajar was a low-ranking civil servant at Heritage Malta. A position he returned to after resigning as GWU Deputy Secretary General in 2002.

Soon after Labour returned to power in 2013, Cutajar was promoted to Principal Permanent Secretary. One of his first decisions was to force the resignation of all the permanent secretaries and replace most of them with loyalists at the heads of government ministries.

Just a few months after Robert Abela took over from Muscat, Cutajar was asked to leave as he had reached retirement age and was not given an extension. In return, he was appointed Chairman of Heritage Malta.

In this new position, the pensioner non-executive Chairman started receiving over €4,000 a month, together with other perks, according to information given to The Shift by Heritage Malta.

Soon after, The Shift revealed that Cutajar was among the first to benefit from a special privileged pension, thanks to a legal amendment inserted into a parliamentary act and many other minor amendments to the Public Administration Act. These legal amendments went unnoticed for years.

Like MPs and members of the Judiciary, retiring permanent secretaries also started receiving an extra non-contributory pension, based on a full two-thirds of a permanent secretary’s salary, uncapped.

This was in addition to the normal pension everyone is entitled to upon retirement, which is capped at a maximum of €16,000 a year.

It is unknown how much Bedingfield pays Cutajar from government coffers and how many hours Cutajar will be assigned to this role. What is certain is that Cutajar is now benefitting from three paycheques, all funded by the taxpayer, on top of his pension.

Last week, Cutajar was found guilty of political discrimination against journalist Norman Vella after revoking his deployment to the public broadcaster (PBS).