Social Solidarity Minister Michael Falzon said Thursday that he was “absolutely convinced" that necessary internal scrutiny 'would happen' as a consequence of an Audit-General report that a €274m contract at St Vincent de Paul Home broke the law. He could not say, however, whether the deal would be stopped.
The report found massive shortcomings in the contract to build and operate residential blocks and a kitchen, with the audit office saying that procurement regulations had been breached and the deal could potentially be deemed invalid.
On Wednesday, Falzon said that the government needed time to review the report, while emphasizing that he was not a part of the process which led to its approval.
Fielding further questions from reporters on Thursday, Falzon repeated his stance while arguing that “the report is what it is” and that “like any other report, there needs to be an internal examination” of its findings.
“I am absolutely convinced that the internal scrutiny that needs to happen will happen and then we will see what can be fixed,” the minister said.
“Let us also remember that there were two companies who instituted legal proceedings against each other,” the minister stated, referring to “disagreements” between the rival consortia which bid for the contract.
“Obviously, going into the details of those cases and any related disagreements is certainly not my goal. I did not have the luxury of having the report in hand before it was tabled in Parliament,” Falzon said.
“The government will take any necessary steps required.
“It’s not up to me to say whether the contract will be halted as the sector is no longer under my remit and I was not involved in the process as a whole. That contract wasn’t finished in just a couple of months,” the minister said.
When pushed to answer about who will be held responsible for the shortcomings flagged by the NAO, the minister argued that it was not “his style” to judge the work of others.
“I can only speak for myself," he said.
”All I can say is that there was no political interference from my end, and the report clearly indicates that the correct mechanisms were used by the government and that there was no political involvement, certainly not from my end,” Falzon insisted.
According to the minister, “when the negotiated procedure was used, it was the director of contracts who got to the arrangement they got to”, referring to the procedure that was used to morph the tender into a management and concession agreement.
“What I can say is that, in practice, we would have been far worse off without those extra 504 beds. The bed rates at St Vincent de Paul increased by 50%. If those beds weren’t there, the situation for our elderly would have exploded,” he added.
Speaking later, PN leader Bernard Grech said the political responsibility had to shouldered by minister Michael Falzon. If the government wanted to show that the institutions worked, and then that they were heeded, then Michael Falzon knew what he had to do, Grech said.