OPM grants release to disgraced MUMN boss after damning abuse findings

The Office of the Prime Minister has given its green light to MUMN boss Paul Pace to start working at his union instead of as a nurse at Mount Carmel only weeks after the conclusions of an internal health ministry probe found him abusing tens of thousands in unworked overtime and allowances, The Shift can reveal.

Last year, The Shift revealed the conclusions of an internal probe conducted by senior health ministry officials, tasked by Permanent Secretary Joseph Chetcuti, on claims of years of abuse by the nurses’ union boss.

According to the conclusions, Pace exploited the system, claiming thousands in overtime and other allowances during holidays abroad or while supposedly performing ‘union work’.

The Shift has now established that Pace was not entitled to leave his place of work on any “union work”, let alone claim overtime, as he didn’t have the necessary release from the heads of the public service, namely the OPM.

Despite the conclusions of the internal probe being forwarded to Police Commissioner Angelo Gafa and the head of the Permanent Commission against Corruption Lawrence Quintano two years ago, showing criminal charges of misappropriation of funds, action has not been taken.

Joyce Cassar, the OPM permanent secretary responsible for the secondment of public servants to trade unions, refused to state whether Pace had the necessary release at the time of the massive overtime abuses, in 2022.

According to Cassar, this information was not in the public interest.

Following further investigations, The Shift can reveal that Pace did not have the necessary approval by the OPM.

Internal documents, seen by The Shift, unequivocally show that Paul Pace was never seconded to work for the MUMN according to public sector rules. This means that his claims of being absent from work on union business were not justifiable and were, in fact, unauthorised.

His first-ever release to be seconded to the MUMN was signed by Cassar in August 2023, just a few weeks after the damning conclusions of the probe started being reported by The Shift.

According to the documents, Pace was only approved to be seconded to the MUMN for one year on 14 August 2023.

Sources at the OPM told The Shift that before last August, Pace could not absent himself from his work as a nurse at Mount Carmel.

OPM sources told The Shift that it is ironic that despite the irrefutable evidence of his abuse, Pace not only avoided dismissal but was given the green light by the OPM to do his union work.

This decision, which seems to contradict the OPM’s commitment to upholding standards, has raised eyebrows among senior officials at the OPM’s People and Standards division.

According to public sector rules, trade unions signatories to collective agreements with the public sector can claim the secondment of government employees to work full-time with their union.

The number of secondments is calculated according to the number of members of each union.

Since the MUMN claims to have just over 5,000 members, it is entitled to have two government employees seconded on full-paid leave.

However, until 2022, when Pace’s abuses were taking place, the only seconded public officer to the MUMN was Alexander Manche, a charge nurse.