Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo on Tuesday expressed ‘full confidence’ in the CEO of the Institute of Tourism Studies, Pierre Fenech, despite a damning report by the Auditor-General which found he had hired then Labour MP Rosianne Cutajar as a consultant in breach of regulations.

Replying to questions by Times of Malta, Bartolo pointed out that the case happened in 2019 before he became tourism minister.

He pointed out that as the Auditor-General’s report said, Fenech had hired Cutajar under instructions from the tourism ministry (then headed by Konrad Mizzi).

In his report, the auditor said Cutajar’s recruitment was “in breach of the policies and procedures” regulating public sector employment and the employment of people in positions of trust.

Cutajar, the auditor said, was not qualified for the tasks she was hired for – especially the ones requiring financial and legal expertise – and his office could barely find evidence that Cutajar did any work at all. Fenech failed to provide any documentation to justify hiring her, and the ITS board was never informed of the decision to hire her.

Fenech had told the auditor-general that he had discussed the need for a consultant at an April 2019 meeting with then-tourism ministry chief of staff Kevin Borg. He said that Borg later informed him that after “consulting with the Ministry”, Cutajar was “deemed the idoneous candidate” and that the agreement was to hire the MP in a position of trust. Borg denied having told Fenech that.

'Fenech should stay' - Minister

Asked whether Fenech should resign in view of the fact that he had hired Cutajar in breach of regulations, Bartolo again insisted he had confidence in the CEO.

"Pierre Fenceh should stay in his role and I have full confidence in the work he is doing,” he said.

Fenech was at the forefront of major changes at the ITS, including good governance reforms and the role the institute played in a skills card system for workers in the tourism industry, the tourism minister pointed out.