Parliamentary Secretary Silvio Schembri has gone to great lengths to keep his constituents informed about his first year in Cabinet, to the point of mailing them a 32-page colour booklet about himself.

However, the junior minister was not forthcoming when this newspaper asked him whether the promotional material, in which he features in no fewer than 82 photos, had been paid for with taxpayer money or he had footed the bill himself.

The 32-page publication has no fewer than 82 photos of Silvio Schembri.

Elected to Parliament for the second time in 2017, Mr Schembri was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Financial Services, Digital Economy and Innovation within the Office of the Prime Minister.

The booklet was recently mailed to constituents in the sixth electoral district (Qormi, Luqa and Siġġiewi). Though it does not indicate if it was printed at the Government Printing Press or elsewhere, the booklet bears the logo of the parliamentary secretariat, as well as citing Mr Schembri’s personal Facebook page and Twitter account.

It contains adverts by State entities like the Malta Financial Services Authority and the Gaming Authority, though it could not be established if this was part of a sponsorship deal to cover publishing costs.

The mailshot raised eyebrows and questions over whether it constituted political campaigning financed by the taxpayer.

This newspaper sent a series of questions to both the Office of the Prime Minister and Mr Schembri himself on the cost of the publication. Mr Schembri was also asked if public funds had been used and, if not, to produce the invoices.

A spokesman for the Office of the Prime Minister would not say who had financed the publication nor the cost but insisted it had been distributed with a local newspaper, which he did not name. The booklet was meant to keep people updated on the government’s work, he added.

People who had received the booklet told the Times of Malta it had been sent to them by mail.

Printing industry sources estimated the overall cost to produce, print and distribute the booklet to about 10,000 households to be in the neighbourhood of €5,000.